PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has urged developed nations to fulfill their pledge of helping developing countries with about $100 billion annually to meet their commitments to the global greenhouse gas emissions eradication target.
President Buhari stated this while delivering his national statement at the ongoing COP26 Leaders’ Summit, in Glasgow, Scotland, assuring the audience that Nigeria will cut its gas emissions to net zero by 2060.
According to a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, President Buhari told the summit that attaining national and global climate change goals will require adequate, sustained technical and financial support to such nations.
He noted that easier access to climate finance had become imperative in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, which really battered the economies of developing countries.
He said greater effort should be channelled towards assisting developing nations to meet their ‘‘Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) commitments through the pledges made by the developed countries to provide at least $100 billion yearly.
“I do not think anyone in Nigeria needs persuading of the need for urgent action on the environment. Desertification in the North, floods in the centre, pollution and erosion on the coast are enough evidence.
‘‘For Nigeria, climate change is not about the perils of tomorrow but what is happening today. Nigeria is committed to net zero by 2060,” he said.
Making a case for gas-based energy transition in Nigeria, President Buhari requested international partners to finance projects using transition fuels such as gas in Nigeria.
Acknowledging that net zero ambition can lead to economic transformation across all sectors, President Buhari said it would require critical infrastructure to be in place.
He also told the COP26 Leaders’ Summit that Nigeria has developed a detailed energy transition plan and roadmap, based on data and evidence.
The President explained that the plan has highlighted some key facts that force the difficult conversations.
On energy access, President Buhari declared that Nigeria’s commitment to a just transition is reflected in ‘‘our ambitious Energy Compact, which includes the government’s flagship project to electrify 5 million households and 25 million people using decentralised solar energy solutions.’’
He described the project as a major first step towards closing energy access deficit in the country by 2030.
World leaders yesterday made unprecedented commitments to protect forests, reduce methane emissions and accelerate green technology.
Amid powerful pleas heard in Glasgow yesterday, world leaders, young people and campaigners all stressed the urgency of taking tangible action to keep the prospect of holding back global temperature rises to 1.5C and building resilience to climate impacts.
About 114 leaders took a landmark step forward at a convening of world leaders on forests by committing to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. The pledge is backed by $12bn in public and $7.2bn in private funding.
Countries from Canada to Russia to Brazil – which also increased its NDC yesterday – China, Colombia, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo all endorsed the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forest and Land Use.
Together, they support 85% of the world’s forests, an area of over 13 million square miles which absorbs around one third of global CO2 released from burning fossil fuels each year.
This announcement was bolstered with a commitment by CEOs from more than 30 financial institutions with over $8.7 trillion of global assets – including Aviva, Schroders and Axa – committing to eliminate investment in activities linked to deforestation. Yesterday is also the first time a COP in recent history has hosted a major event on methane, with 105 countries, including 15 major emitters including Brazil, Nigeria and Canada, signing up to the Global Methane Pledge. This historic commitment, led by the US and EU alongside the UK COP26 presidency, equates to up to 40% of global methane emissions and 60% of global GDP.