The frequency of occurrence of extreme weather events such as flood, drought, heat waves, hurricanes and bush fires in different parts of the world in recent years have brought to fore the urgency to examine the impact of climate change on sustainable development. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its Fourth Assessment Report (4AR), reports an apparent rise in the global average temperature and its associated consequences on global and regional weather and climate. The Nigerian Meteorological Society (NMetS) in its effort to advance the science of meteorology, climate and water resources organized an International conference on climate change. The conference tagged "NMetS Zaria 2011" had as its theme: Climate Change Impact: Risks and Opportunities. The conference attracted seasoned academics within and outside Nigeria, professionals, administrators, government officials, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and policy makers within the broad spectrum of climate change. Two lead papers on the issue of climate change were presented by well-known experts. Over 100 papers on all topics relating to climate change were presented during the technical sessions of the conference.

After an exhaustive deliberation, the following observations were made:

1. There is increasing variability in rainfall over Nigeria and particularly over the northern part of Nigeria which causes the frequent crop failures in the region.
2. Biodiversity has been endangered in Nigeria over the last fifty years.
3. There are no adequate synergies between the research institutes and policy makers which hamper proper coordination of policies by stakeholders in tackling climate change induced vulnerabilities.
4. There is no established framework for climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, which further enhances the risk of negative climate change impacts in Nigeria.
5. The primary healthcare in Nigeria is not so vigorous to be able to cope with the frequent outbreak of climate change-induced diseases such as meningitis, cholera and malaria.
6. It has been observed that there is no proper awareness among the populace on the impacts of climate change in Nigeria.
7. There is increasing rate of environmental degradation in Nigeria over the past few decades.
8. The simulation of climate change impacts on crop yield reveals positive response of C4 crop yields to changing climatic condition.
9. There is increased rate of occurrence of haze which reduces visibility and poses danger to the transportation sector.
10. The increasing rate of energy crises in the country has been ascribed to the effects of changing climatic condition on the optimal performance of hydropower generation, solar cell, and thermal photovoltaic cells in Nigeria.
11. There is low involvement of women in climate change issues in Nigeria.
12. It has also been observed that an intelligent and adequate utilization of our natural endowment could enhance the profitability and hence realization of the opportunities associated with climate change.

Following the observations highlighted above, the following measures have been recommended to reduce the impacts associated with climate change globally and Nigeria in particular:

1. Appropriate rainfall prediction models should be developed. This could allow the prediction of rainfall onset, cessations, seasonal and annual rainfall amount and dry spells as well as the duration of the growing season. This could reduce the effect of the inherent climatic variability on crop yield in Nigeria.
2. There should be a robust primary health care in Nigeria to be able to cope with frequent outbreak of diseases that climate change induces. This required strong collaboration between health workers (doctors in particular) and climate scientists to achieve.
3. Majority of Nigerians still have a very poor perception of the concept of climate change and its impacts. So, climate change education and awareness campaign is needed at, and by all levels of Government. NGOs should be involved in this task.
4. The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such floods, drought, heat waves to mention a few is on the increase. These have started impacting on livelihoods in Nigeria, so the current autonomous adaptation in use will fail with intensifying climate change impacts. Therefore planned adaptation strategies are recommended.
5. This is a clarion call on the Senate and the President of the Federation to sign into law the climate change bill that has been before them for years. This will give a legal backing to the implementation of a well anticipated climate change policy.
6. There is the need to take advantage of Nigerian Meteorological Society's (NIMET), climate information services'/products in tackling challenges of climate change impacts on all the sectors. This is in line with World Meteorological Organisation's (WMO) global framework for climate services.
7. Geospatial climate information from Aerospace Institutes like NASRDS,RECTAS, NCRS and GEONETCast should be used for early warning forecast and individual researches.