Press Release: Nigeria Requires International Support To Mitigate Effects of Climate Change – President Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in Paris appealed to the international community to support Nigeria’s commitment to reducing the negative effects of climate change.
In a submission to the One Planet Summit in the French capital attended by over 60 Heads of State and Governments, as well as representatives of non-governmental and private organisations, with the theme, “Climate Change Financing,” the President said, “we cannot implement our Nationally Determined Contribution without adequate financial, technical and capacity building support from the developed countries.”
While noting that “since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, we have been strengthening our national efforts towards the implementation of the Agreement and the Marrakech Call for Action,” and Nigeria had already ratified the Paris Agreement in May 2017, President Buhari, however, said the country’s “Nationally Determined Contribution to reduce our emission by 20% by 2020 and 40% by 2030,” cannot be attained alone.
According to him, “having just come out of recession we are under no illusion of the challenges that we face in Nigeria.”
President Buhari said “Nigeria recognizes that ensuring sustainable funding is a major constraint in efforts to implement the Nationally Determined Contribution,” adding that “to respond effectively to climate change mitigation and adaptation challenges, critical mass of financial resources beyond what we can provide from our national resources will be required.”
On steps Nigeria has taken to meet its national goal in this respect, he said the country has “embraced the issuance of the green bond as an innovative and alternative source of projects funding that would help reduce emissions and provide robust climate infrastructure, such as renewable energy, low carbon transport, water infrastructure and sustainable agriculture in line with the Paris Agreement.”
In furtherance of efforts to deliver on the country’s pledges, the President said the government was “tightening the existing governance structure in Nigeria for more effective implementation of climate change activities, including the additional responsibilities that are consequent on the adoption of the all-encompassing climate change treaty.”
He also stated that “Government is actively promoting technologies and practices such as sustainable land management, climate resilient agriculture, water efficiency, clean energy, and skills for reducing greenhouse gas emissions among others,” noting that sustaining these efforts will also require external support.
Other measures required, he said, included “accelerating Research and Development on facilitating Access to Climate Friendly Technologies, through technology pooling and collective approach to financing Research and Development, regulating restrictive practices in licensing agreements and anti-competitive uses of Intellectual Property and International Declaration on Climate Technologies.”
According to the President, “In Nigeria, we are looking at insurance-based proposals to deal with loss, damage and adaptation to the poor, vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups. Risk mitigation through insurance must benefit those groups who currently have negligible access to any form of indemnity coverage. Vulnerable groups will also benefit from new technologies and ways to make insurance schemes affordable, including through long term premium support.”
Recognising that “the adverse impacts of climate change such as temperature rise; erratic rainfall, sand storms, desertification, low agricultural yields, drying up of water bodies like Lake Chad, gully erosions and constant flooding are a daily reality in Nigeria,” President Buhari admitted that highly vulnerable communities lack the capacity to cope.
He said Nigeria would require external assistance in the following areas: “A long term solution for a source of clean power, which can be achieved through private investments to create economic competitiveness for industrialization, job creation and agricultural programmes throughout the country; and the inclusion of Nigeria in Climate Regional Programmes, especially strong financial support to our planned project for the replenishment of the Lake Chad.”
The President noted that “this long term solution will ensure sustained livelihood for rural and urban communities, and permanently address the conditions conducive to the spread of violent extremism and terrorism, and stem illegal migration especially of our youths abroad.”
In acknowledging that the external support must be sustained on a long term basis, President Buhari emphasised that “the changes that Nigeria and other developing countries need to make cannot be undertaken overnight.”
He said some fundamental restructuring of our economy was required, adding that “in this process, technology will be a powerful tool to simultaneously address climate change and advance development.”
The President said he looked up to the developed countries to jointly take a leading role in mobilising support for this action plan on addressing the challenges of climate change within the framework of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
In their remarks, the three co-chairmen of the plenary session, the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, the World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim, and the French President, Emmanuel Macron, stressed the imperative of a global comprehensive and speedy action, including private sector financing against the devastating impact of climate change.
President Buhari had before the summit, attended a luncheon hosted by his French counterpart in honour of visiting Heads of State and Governments at the Elysee Palace.
Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity)
December 12, 2017
Factsheet: Why President Buhari is in Paris, France
The President is attending the One Planet Summit which aims to mobilize the financing needed for developing countries to attain the goals and targets of the Paris Climate Agreement. The theme of the Summit is ‘Climate Change Financing’.
In Paris he will reiterate Nigeria’s commitment to realising the objectives of the Paris Agreement, as well as strengthen Nigeria’s partnerships with fellow governments, and other regional and global Climate Action partners and stakeholders. At the Summit the President will deliver a speech on behalf of Nigeria. He will also attend a lunch hosted by President Emmanuel Macron of France for visiting Heads of State and Government.
Nigeria joined several other countries around the world to sign the Paris Agreement in December 2015. President Buhari signed the Agreement on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on September 22, 2016, and followed this up with the signing of the Instrument of Ratification at the State House, Abuja, on March 28, 2017. This ratification made Nigeria the 146th party to the Paris Agreement. The Agreement became binding on Nigeria with effect from June 15, 2017, one month after the submission of the Ratification Instrument to the United Nations on May 16, 2017.
Under the Agreement Nigeria has committed (the so-called ‘Intended Nationally Determined Contributions – INDCs) to reducing carbon emissions 20% unconditionally and 45% with international support, by 2030. To achieve this Nigeria requires billions of dollars in funding and investment for energy, transport and agriculture projects that would reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change (manifesting as desertification, flooding, erosion, erratic rainfall, etc).
Nigeria has prioritized five sectors for the implementation of its INDCs, as follows:
- Oil and Gas (a new National Gas Policy that will reduce flaring, and also promote the use of gas instead of wood products)
- Agriculture and Land Use (Climate-smart agriculture)
- Transport (Shift from road transport to rail; also shift from transport powered by fossil fuels to renewable energy).
- Industrial Energy Efficiency
- Power (A new energy mix that increases the contribution of renewable energy sources; investment in solar and wind energy)
Financing is required not only for investment in the needed infrastructure but also for research and development aimed at advancing climate-friendly technologies.
Climate change is deeply connected to the Sustainable Goals Agenda of the United Nations. Goal 13 of the SDGs prescribes “urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.”
Government cannot singlehandedly fund the implementation of the INDC targets. An estimated 80% of the funding for climate action will need to come from the private sector. This is why the Government of Nigeria is launching, this month, a Green Bond, to raise domestic financing for low-carbon infrastructure projects across the country.
Partnerships are key to the success of the Paris Agreement. The Government of Nigeria is collaborating with subnational governments, regional and continental organisations, development finance institutions, the private sector and civil society groups, to ensure the success of its climate action efforts.
The One Planet Summit is being hosted by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and organised by the United Nations, the World Bank Group, the French Government and a coalition of NGOs/CSOs.
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