Nigeria’s Minister of State for Environment and Ecological Management, Ishaq Salako, has said President Bola Tinubu’s administration aims to provide 30 million “green jobs” to Nigerians in its Energy Transition Plans.
The Minister, who represented Mr Tinubu at the just concluded African Climate Summit in Kenya, revealed this on Wednesday while interacting with journalists on the sidelines of the event.
“More importantly, we are taking an initiative to shift from the use of firewood and charcoal to the use of natural gas and more environmentally friendly energy sources and we aim to reach about 30 million Nigerians in doing so,” he said.
The Minister said the government will ensure that everyone participates in the plans to ensure energy equity, so that Nigerians, regardless of their social economic class, participate in the plans.
Africa Climate Summit
Between September 4 and 6, African leaders met in Kenya to advance the debate on how Africa can achieve green growth and sustainable climate finance to reduce the devastating effect of climate change.
The extensive three-day deliberation concluded with African leaders’ adoption of the Nairobi Declaration and a $23 billion climate commitment to promote green growth, adaptation and mitigation efforts across Africa.
During the presidential day of the Summit, Salako delivered Nigeria’s commitments on behalf of Tinubu to African leaders and global delegates at the summit.
In his speech, he told leaders that Africa’s most populous country would need $17.7 billion annually to fulfill its unconditional Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) pledges by 2030.
“…the unconditional target of our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) requires $17.7 billion in annual investments,” said the minister, who represented Mr Tinubu.
When asked if he believes Nigeria would benefit from the $23 billion commitment at the summit, the Minister said Nigeria would likely receive its fair share of the funds when disbursed.
Some of the Nigerian delegates at the summit
“You know that Nigeria is the giant of Africa. If you are denying something to Nigeria, you are denying it to 20 percent of the black population in the world,” she stated.
Salako said there was no way anything would reach Africa and Nigeria would not have its fair share, adding that negotiations on how to access the funds were still ongoing.
“Green jobs”
He said a core component of Tinubu’s agenda is job creation and the government is keen to leverage the clean energy component to create green jobs.
The minister said the removal of fuel subsidy announced by Tinubu is not an economic decision, but a survival decision.
“Since the declaration, all of Africa has agreed that subsidizing fossil fuels is not what we should continue to promote. What we have to do is see how we can move from using energy sources that are so dangerous for the climate to more climate-friendly sources,” said Mr Salako.
“If you look at our data, between May and June, when the president announced the elimination of the subsidy, our fossil fuel consumption fell almost 28 percent.”
This, Salako said, if quantified, would show that the country has reduced climate-affecting emissions in Nigeria.
He said the development has made the government consider more environmentally friendly sources of energy, thus considering Compressed Natural Gas as an alternative source of clean energy in the country.
Fundamental reason
In an interview with Newslodge at the summit, the Director General of the Nigerian Council on Climate Change, Salisu Dahiru, said government officials came to the summit to see how to attract more investments into the country.
“We are taking these measures in two main areas. The first is to look for opportunities to attract investment flows for capital projects,” he said. Adding that a large part of the efforts are made in anticipation of what will be done under Article (6): the internationally transferred mitigation options of the Paris Agreement.
Mr. Dahiru during an interview with Newslodge at the Summit
He noted that it would provide opportunities for carbon trading and many project developers around the world are looking at Africa, particularly Nigeria, as a hub of investment opportunities.
Dahiru said the government is also taking another bold step with climate change legislation that only three countries, including Nigeria, have adopted across the continent.
The legislation has provided comfort to investors, professionals and developers of projects emerging in Nigeria and Africa.
At the Summit, the NCCC boss said Nigeria is looking inwards to raise capital for carbon credit investments.
Climate change legislation
Abubakar Sulaiman, Professor and Director General of the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), emphasized the need for effective climate legislation in all African countries.
Sulaiman during an interview with Newslodge at the Summit headquarters
“I think with this summit, people will go home and perhaps get their parliamentarians to sit down to discuss critical areas of oversight and critical areas of poor representation and even go back to their various constituencies to embark on advocacy activities on how to preserve your environment. ”He said in an interview with Newslodge.
Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE)
Another Nigerian delegate at the summit and Nigerian ACE National Focal Point for the United Nations, Saadatu Madaki, highlighted the critical efforts being made by the Nigerian government to promote and improve climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies in the country.
Mrs. Madaki while giving her presentation on ACE
He listed the clean stoves initiative, Energy Transition Program (ETP), green bonds and rural community engagement programme, among several others, as part of the climate empowerment initiatives being adopted in the country.
Although he said the government faces some challenges, he called for greater involvement and financial investment from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
ACE is a term adopted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to denote work under Article 6 of the Convention and article 12 of the Paris Agreement.
Nigerian climate advocates and delegates at summit
The goal of ACE is to empower all members of society to participate in climate action, through public education and awareness, training, public participation and access to information, and international cooperation in these topics.