The Nation Newspaper

Tag: COP21

  • Nigeria to sign global pact on COP21 climate change

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday pledged Nigeria’s supports to the Paris agreement on Climate Change reached at the end of COP21 meeting held in France last December.

    According to him, Nigeria will join in the signing of the global pact in due course.

    He spoke at the Presidential Villa during a courtesy visit by the French Minister for the Environment, Power and Marine Affairs, who presided over the COP21 meeting in Paris, Ms. Segolene Royal.

    Osinbajo, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, said that working together with the legislative arm of the Nigerian government, the country will play its part in signing the agreement and ensuring ratification.

    “COP21 outcome is important for everyone, it is the largest landmark agreement on climate change,” Osinbajo said

    Nigeria, he said, was pleased with the meeting and its outcome-the Paris Agreement.

    He also harped on the need for the rehabilitation of Lake Chad which is being threatened by climate change.

    Lake Chad, he said, is also important from the point of view of security and economic factors.

    The Vice President restated Nigeria’s concern about the lake and welcomed international support on its preservation and rehabilitation.

    He thanked the French minister for making a stop in Nigeria as she tours countries in the continent, expressing the hope that Nigeria and France would continue to expand diplomatic and economic relationships, especially as the federal government is now confronting a number of economic issues including diversification and development of infrastructure.

    The Vice President who was joined at the meeting by Nigeria’s Environment Minister, Ms. Amina Mohammed, commended the effort of Ms. Royal in her role as COP21 president and pledged Nigeria’s continued support.

    Speaking earlier, Ms. Royal told the Vice President that she is visiting Nigeria and a number of other African countries to ensure that the Paris Agreement is established through the signing and ratification process, and also beyond to encourage the signatories take concrete actions in line with the agreement after the signing.

    She noted the support of the international community on the preservation and rehabilitation of Lake Chad and announced that the Paris Agreement would be signed April 22 at the United Nations.

  • ‘Renewables alone won’t cut it!’

    ‘Renewables alone won’t cut it!’

    Uwe Lauber, CEO of the German mechanical engineering company MAN Diesel & Turbo, talks about the energy situation and the company’s plans in Nigeria.

     Mr. Lauber, you are visiting Nigeria as part of the delegation accompanying the German Federal President. What are your impressions so far?

    First of all, let me say that it is a great honor for me to be able to visit Nigeria together with our Federal President and to be welcomed on such a high level. Nigeria is an impressive country with a buoyant and dynamically developing economy. That buoyancy is especially tangible in Lagos, a city that seems to be bursting with energy. Take for example the Eko Atlantic City project. The sheer dimension of it is nothing short of stunning. This is without any doubt one of the most ambitious land winning projects of our time.

    We are guessing you are here for business? MAN Diesel & Turbo is engaged in various fields, ranging from power generation and turbo machinery for the oil & gas industry to marine propulsion. For which segment do you see the biggest opportunities in Nigeria?

    Nigeria is already an important market for our turbomachinery business, where we are working together with the oil and gas and process industry on a number of projects. Some groundbreaking projects are being developed at the moment, e.g. the Dangote refinery, which will be of huge strategical value for the country and will turn Nigeria into an exporter of refined petroleum products instead of an importer. It is projects like this, where we see the most substantial growth potential. But Nigeria also has a developing shipbuilding industry, to which we are paying close attention. As one of the world’s leading providers of ship engines, we want to be well positioned by the time this market takes off. And then, of course, there is the energy sector, where we specialize in solutions for distributed energy generation. We already have over 60 engines for energy generation installed in the country.

    As you know, the generation of and access to electricity is one of the biggest challenges this country is facing. What is your perspective on the situation?

    The power sector is, without question, one of the key constraints on the country’s economic development. According to the World Bank, power cuts in Nigeria slow down annual growth by an average of 3-4 percent. That is very substantial. Nigeria is the biggest economy on the African continent and yet almost 50 percent of the population is without access to electricity. Imagine the untapped potential! Without a doubt, action is needed. But things are progressing, and in the past years, Nigeria has made remarkable efforts to address the situation in a systematical way: The 2013 privatization of the power sector created the foundation on which an electricity market based on rules, efficiency and reliability can develop. Going forward, it will be essential to generate the trust and incentives needed for independent power producers to further invest in and expand the generation capacities and distribution infrastructure.

    What technical solutions do you recommend for the country’s energy challenge?

    With regards to generation capacities, I think flexibility is key, which is why distributed energy solutions based on gas or dual-fuel engines are well-suited to Nigeria. They are very efficient and can feed into the grid or operate in captive mode. And this technology also works well with renewable energies, like solar or wind power, which offer a huge potential in Nigeria.

    The Nigerian government intends to increase the share of electricity from renewables to 23% by 2025 and to 36% by 2030. Coming from a country that has already reached a +25% share – any advice?

    It’s hard to compare the situations: In Germany, the main challenge was and still is to completely restructure an energy system that has evolved over decades in a short period of time. In Nigeria, it is about building up a new energy system, partly from scratch – a system that needs to supply twice as many people, in a country that is almost three times as big as Germany. Having said that, I think there are three lessons that we had to learn the hard way, which might be of general value: First, “Make a plan and share it!” – Get all the players to the table and let them know where the journey is going. Secondly, “Don’t forget about the grid!” – It needs to carry the load and takes a lot of time to build. And thirdly, if it is also climate protection we are talking about, “Renewables alone won’t cut it.” You need to choose the right back-up as well.

    What would be the right back-up in your eyes?

    In Germany, we have been facing the seemingly absurd situation of constantly rising shares of renewable energy generation and rising CO2 emissions at the same time. What had happened was that more and more subsidized renewable energy pushed into the market and led to a drastic erosion of wholesale prices for electricity. As most gas-fired power plants could not compete on that price level, the share of energy generated from coal increased. And that had a significant impact on the carbon footprint. What this has taught us: Renewables need a fossil back-up that is low in emissions, which is why natural gas is essential when it comes to reaching our climate goals.

    Speaking of climate goals, what is your assessment of the recent climate agreement made at the COP21 in Paris?

    The climate agreement has to be considered a historical breakthrough. Never before has the UN been able to get everybody to commit to a common climate goal. This is a unique result. But we have to be aware that the actual work is only starting now, as the agreement does not define any mandatory actions. So the next step will be just as decisive, which is for the countries of the world to hand in binding plans for their factual contribution to limit global warming.

    You have opened a new office in Lagos at the end of last year. What are your further plans in Nigeria? Are you planning to open additional offices?

    As a next step, we are considering opening up a local service workshop. Our market-leading service is an essential element of the MAN brand experience and, of course, a strong selling point for any new business we create in Nigeria. And since we already have a strong local base, this is worth looking into.

    In 2014 you acquired a small engineering company in South Africa. Is M&A something you are also looking into for the Nigerian market?

    We are not on a shopping tour, but we follow a concept that we like to call “intelligent growth”. That means acquisitions are definitely part of our playbook, and Nigeria is no exception. However, it also means that we place very high demands on the commercial viability of any possible transaction. We look at M&A as a tool to help us open up new fields of technology, sales markets or supply chains. If that is the case, we may be interested. But we will always remain a lean and flexible player in the market. Our customer proximity and fast market response allow us to counteract the size difference to some of our competitors.

  • Nigeria cannot stop crude extraction for renewable energy, says Ayade

    Nigeria cannot stop crude extraction for renewable energy, says Ayade

    The Cross River state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade on Tuesday described calls by some developed countries for an end to fossil fuel extraction as a mitigative action against climate change as harmful to the Nigerian economy.

    Ayade spoke at the sidelines of the ongoing 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nation’s  Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) holding in Paris France. The governor who is also the President of African Governors Forum on Climate Change said use of renewable energy must follow the pace of development by developing nations whose economy depends on oil.

    Ayade’s position comes in great contrast to that of many developed countries that have canvassed for an end to fossil fuel extraction. Also, many civil society organizations have identified ‘big oil’ as a primary cause of climate change.

    But Ayade, who is also a Professor of Environmental Science said without alternatives, Nigeria would continue to develop her fossil fuel economy but with controlled measure. This he said would ensure that those who depend on the oil would continue to be protected without the huge exposure of the atmosphere to hydro carbon.

    “Renewable energy is not the way for Africans at this point in time, renewable energy means put an end to the sale of your hydro carbon, it means Nigeria should stop exporting crude oil, but they are busy doing research, inventing technology using solar energy and wind power. When all of that happens, when the oil price goes down, when you stop producing oil, what are you going to use as an alternative? The misbalancing of the livelihood, what is the alternative to that? Renewable energy must follow with development, it must follow with technology, Africa cannot be in a haste to adopt renewable technology,” Ayade said.

    The governor decried the attitude by African countries where everything adopted in the West is copied without adequate reflection whether it works for the African environment. “We must go in pace with our own technology at our pace and that is the problem we have also taken into politics. We practice presidential system of government that is being practiced by advanced western world who have 200 years of democracy,” he said.

    Explaining further, the governor explained that taking the hydro carbon out of the soil is necessary to avoid natural disasters. “When you talk about renewable energy, it is complaining against the economy of developing countries. Don’t forget, as we refuse to take off the hydro carbon, geothermal pressure occurs in the sub soil and in the span of years, volcanic eruptions will naturally occur. So you need to actually take them out

    “You must have controlled utilization and the focus will be if you are taking off hydrocarbon can you plant more trees particularly carnivorous species like pines and oak trees that have the capacity to take off the carbon dioxide. I would rather have you use fossil fuel with mitigate measures than to cap it and focus on renewable energy. While that technology works for them, it is harmful for our economy,” he said.

    The governor decried the beggarly attitude of African countries saying Africa has a key resource in her forests which must be developed to conserve carbon.

    Ayade said: “As Africans, we must shut our doors and reinvent ourselves; adaptation is not the way to go because it is adjusting yourself to live with the situation, mitigation is the way to go and when you are dealing with mitigation, the focus would have been planting more trees, seeing how you can go for greener technology.

    “But I ask you as we come here for COP21 what is Africa’s position, what have we brought to the negotiation table, we cannot continue to play the role of a victim, Africans own the largest tropical rainforest, and we stand at the middle between the West and the East. It is that place that sinks all the carbon dioxide that comes even from the US, Canada, Asia, they all come into Africa.

    “So Africa is the sink, Africa must have a stronger say and have their own pre-COP conference before they come to COP. Africa’s negotiation must be single, firm, clear. Africa cannot come cap in hand always looking for alms. That is what I want to say that Africa must stop coming to the international community to seek funds, we must seek technology, seek equality and relevance, because indeed, it is one of the most blessed continent.”

    Meanwhile, this year’s Calabar festival will have Climate Change as its theme. The governor explained that it is to call attention to the issue of a changing world. “We are using the carnival to create practical solution. I am looking at green police, a massive number of young men and women whose business is to grow new trees and safeguard existing ones,” Ayade said.

  • Buhari joins 150 world leaders for climate change conference

    Buhari joins 150 world leaders for climate change conference

    President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to arrive Paris, France, Sunday evening to join about 150 other world leaders for the Conference of Parties 21 (COP21).

    The meeting is aimed getting nations to agree on how to deal with the issue of climate change.

    There has been no agreement on practical actions even though governments have already committed themselves to limiting green house gas emissions that interfere with the climate,

    This Paris meeting is therefore seen as the last chance to arrive at concrete binding resolutions over issues which have been discussed every year since 1992 under the auspices of the United Nations.

    President Buhari will present Nigeria’s statement at the opening session on Monday before participating in the launching of the International Solar Alliance, an initiative of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who has invited around 110 nations to join the alliance.

    The alliance is to be named the International Agency for Solar Policy and Application (InSPA) and is aimed at a host of African nations and others located within the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.

    The President will thereafter attend a summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin Republic which has been scheduled to take place on Tuesday on the sidelines of the COP21.

    Deliberations at the Paris meeting of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin Republic will focus mainly on the war against Boko Haram and other security issues of common interest to participating countries.

    Also on Tuesday, the President has been scheduled to participate in another COP21 sideline event titled: “the Conference on Climate Change and African Solutions” organized by the African Union (AU).