Rivers State Environmental, Sustainability & Climate Bill

Pillar: Advocacy & Policy · Status: ACTIVE (advocacy)

Plenty of organisations plant trees; few work on the laws that decide whether a city stays green.

Port Harcourt’s greening has been attempted before. Research conducted by the Foundation into the governance of urban greening in Port Harcourt found that past initiatives, however well-intentioned, repeatedly met the same two obstacles: the absence of an enabling policy framework, and the absence of a dedicated counterpart agency responsible for the urban environment. Programmes rose and fell with administrations; trees were planted and lost; and no law required anyone to do otherwise.

That finding shapes the Foundation’s work today. Even as we develop the Green Port Harcourt Initiative, we recognise that an enabling policy framework is key to its success — and to the success of every effort concerning the Rivers State environment. The Foundation is therefore supporting the development of environmental, sustainability, and climate legislation for Rivers State, so that the protection of the environment is anchored in law and institutions, not goodwill.