The Academy elected 47 new TWAS Fellows today. Among them Chukwumerije Okereke, Professor in Global Governance & Public Policy in the School for Policy Studies and Director for the Center for Climate Change and Development, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Nigeria.
Chukwumerije has made significant contributions to scholarship on topics such as how different conceptions of justice influence global climate governance and the implications for climate-resilient sustainable development in developing countries.
He has worked with a diverse array of stakeholders to mobilise research to shape climate governance in Africa including drafting a climate change law in Nigeria, modelling Nigeria’s long-term low-carbon development strategy, designing African Unions’ Adaptation Initiative, and drafting the first ever national green growth plan in Africa, for the Government of Rwanda.
He is also a visiting professor at both the University of Reading and London School of Economics and has served as lead author and coordinating lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and is a member of the African Academy of Sciences.
Chukwumerije said:
"I am delighted to have been elected Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (UNESCO-TWAS).
"It means a lot to me because I have always been driven by a desire to highlight the challenges faced by developing countries in addressing climate change while also pursuing economic growth as well as the opportunities to leverage climate action to build resilience and achieve economic growth.
"Developing countries face multiple challenges related to colonial legacy and unjust international economic order which work to the advantage of advanced countries. I believe that approaching climate governance from the framework of justice enables us to tackle, not just the issue of climate pollution, but also the more fundamental question of global equity and fairness needed to ensure that everyone can lead a decent life regardless of where they are born.
"I grew up in a very rural village in Old Eastern Nigeria. I played naked under the rain, swam and drank water from the brownish local river, went to school for the most time barefooted, studied under the big akparata tree in the local school, hunted rats and rabbits with my age-mates and sang with other children under the moonlight.
"I experienced the joy of growing up in the natural environment and am passionate to see that economic development for all the good things it brings does not impose existential risk on our environment and the lives of people on the planet.
This recognition encourages me to continue to work as there is still quite a long way to go to achieve climate justice for the vulnerable countries of the world."