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Tag: COP28

  • Nigeria at COP28: Cautious hope for renewable future

    Nigeria at COP28: Cautious hope for renewable future

    • By Abideen Olasupo

    Sir: The 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) concluded in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on December 14 brought together nearly 200 countries to discuss and negotiate ways to address the global climate crisis.

     For Africa, which is disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change despite contributing the least to global emissions, COP28 was an opportunity to secure commitments from developed countries to provide finance and technology for climate adaptation and mitigation efforts.

    For Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and a major oil producer, the conference was an opportunity to chart a course towards a more sustainable future.

    COP28 produced a mixed bag of outcomes for Africa and Nigeria. On the one hand, the conference adopted a number of resolutions that could have a positive impact on the continent. A good example is the Global Goal on Adaptation, which aims to mobilize $25 billion per year for climate adaptation by 2025.

    There is also the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), which aims to mobilize $100 billion for renewable energy in Africa by 2030; and then the Loss and Damage Fund, which will provide financial assistance to developing countries that have been hit by climate disasters.

     These resolutions, if implemented effectively, could provide much-needed resources for African countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change and transition to a low-carbon economy.

    However, there are also reasons for caution. There are major concerns particularly that the commitments made at COP28 are not legally binding, and there is no guarantee that they will be translated into concrete action. In addition, many African countries, including Nigeria, are still heavily reliant on fossil fuels for their energy needs. 

    Transitioning to a renewable energy future will require significant investment and support from developed countries.

    Despite the challenges, COP28 represents a step forward in the fight against climate change.

    The resolutions adopted at the conference provide a foundation for a more sustainable future for Africa and Nigeria. It is now up to African governments, civil society organizations, and the private sector to work together to ensure that these commitments are translated into action.

     For Nigeria, COP28 is an opportunity to accelerate its transition to a renewable energy future. The country has abundant solar and wind resources, and the government has set a target of generating 30% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. 

    COP28 provides an opportunity to secure the financing and technology needed to achieve this goal.

    A shift to renewable energy would not only help Nigeria to mitigate its climate impact, but it would also create jobs, boost economic growth, and improve air quality. 

    In addition, it would make Nigeria less reliant on imported fossil fuels, which would save the country billions of dollars in foreign exchange.

    The transition to a renewable energy future will not be easy. However, COP28 has shown that there is a global commitment to supporting developing countries in their efforts to address climate change. With hard work and dedication, Nigeria can seize this opportunity to build a more sustainable future for its people and planet.

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    To strengthen this commitment, African countries must make sustainable investments in climate change education. Africa, although it bears the brunt of the climate crisis, its people are largely ignorant of climate change. Designing and implementing climate educative policies will fast track access to clean and renewable energy especially in the rural areas.

    Africa must also ensure that its fight against climate disinformation is fought with all seriousness.

    Climate disinformation can also erode public trust in climate science and scientists, making it more difficult to develop and implement effective climate policies.

    For Nigeria, COP28 is an opportunity to accelerate its transition to a renewable energy future. This would not only help Nigeria to mitigate its climate impact, but it would also create jobs, boost economic growth, and improve air quality. The transition will not be easy, but with hard work and dedication, Nigeria can seize this opportunity to build a more sustainable future for its people and planet.

    •Abideen Olasupo,

     <abideenolasupo@gmail.com>

  • Women seek implementation of COP28 resolutions

    Women seek implementation of COP28 resolutions

    A coalition of Nigeria’s leading women-led civil society organisations (CSOs) has called on the Federal Government to put in place an inclusive and effective mechanism for the swift implementation of Nigeria’s resolutions made at the just concluded COP28. 

    The organisations are under the auspices of the Development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC).

    The Women Economic Empowerment CSO coalition (WEE-COL) expressed concern about the need for a clear monitoring and evaluation performance indicators for line MDAs and high-level government stewardship around the inter-sectionality of climate action and the health, agriculture, resilient food systems, education and security sectors.

    The coalition in a statement by its coordinator, Mrs Ruth Agbor, hailed the Nigerian government for recognising the severe and disproportionate impacts of climate change on women’s health, their well-being and livelihoods.

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    Mrs Agbor who is also the President of the Association of Women in Agriculture and Trades (AWITA), commended the government for signing the Declarations at the recently concluded COP28 Dubai.

    She said: “Women’s civil society organisations are ready to play a vital role, contributing to the realisation of government’s COP 28 commitments at all levels. Women’s groups are prepared to share lived experiences about the impact of the climate crisis.

    “They are indispensable to processes of formulation, implementation and evaluation of climate action policies and projects in key sectors such as health and agriculture. We are therefore calling on the Nigerian government and particularly the National Council on Climate Change to actively engage and collaborate with women’s CSOs in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of climate action policies, programs and projects.’’

  • COP28, Fed. Govt. and Peter Obi’s hypocrisy

    COP28, Fed. Govt. and Peter Obi’s hypocrisy

    By Jude Ndukwe

    SIR: Nigeria’s participation at the climate change summit, COP28, in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is still a subject of disagreement and criticism among analysts and politicians in the country. Top on the agenda of the criticism is the size of Nigeria’s delegation to the summit as led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    The Labour Party presidential candidate at the last general elections, Peter Obi had lent his voice loudly against the federal government for what he termed a “wasteful” expedition due to the large number of Nigeria’s delegation to the summit.

    He had declared that “This huge contingent is out at public expense at a time when most Nigerians can hardly afford food and basic needs as a result of economic hardship.”

    He was soon to be followed by the national chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure who lamented and asked “How can a country that is borrowing money to pay workers’ wages, a country plagued by insecurity, battered by power collapse where investors are exiting the country by the day fritter away such a humongous amount of resources on a jamboree?”

    Both Peter Obi and Julius Abure could not be pacified by the explanation given by the government that it sponsored only 422 of the delegates and that the rest were individuals or representatives of corporate entities with interest in climate change who registered for the summit outside the government team.

    Shortly after, Peter Obi took on the Presidency over the sums it budgeted for the renovation of the vice president’s residence. While the sums of N2.5bn and N3bn were allocated for the renovation of the vice president’s residences in Abuja and Lagos respectively, another sum of N15bn was appropriated for the construction of a “befitting residence” for the vice president, Kashim Shettima, making it a total of N20.5bn in both the 2023 supplementary budget and the 2024 Appropriation Bill.

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    One wonders where Peter Obi got the moral right to make himself a judge over the federal government when government and leaders of his own party, the Labour Party, are doing even far worse things in Abia State while he and Julius Abure, the party’s national chairman, look away in odious pretence.

    Is it not alarming, sickening and even more ‘shocking and disheartening’ that the governor of Abia State, Alex Otti of his Labour Party spent a whopping sum of N5.32bn on his private residence which he has converted to a government house and from where he conducts his personal affairs and official duties?

    It is even worse that that humongous amount was what was spent on his private residence in just three months (July – September) according to the Abia State 3rd Quarter 2023 Budget Performance Report as featured on the official website of the Abia State government.

    And this is happening when Abia State has three government houses, two in Umuahia and one in Aba (annex). The two in Umuahia are the newly commissioned government house and the old one which is still very functional. To make matters worse, Otti’s private residence which he has converted to a government house at the expense of the state’s resources is neither located in Umuahia the state capital nor in Aba its commercial nerve centre, with all the attendant negative effects of such practice on the capital city.

    As if that was not enough, Otti’s government spent N397m on an amorphous ‘welfare package’ and N927m on meals alone in the same short period (July – September) even though it later claimed it was N233m.

    Yet, Peter Obi and Julius Abure have never for once made any comments about this sad and unfortunate development despite its wide reportage in the media. One could only imagine the kind of dust Peter Obi would have raised if it was the federal government that embarked on such frivolous expenses. The cacophony would have made headlines as usual and the Obidients in obedience would have feasted voraciously on it.

    One would have expected Peter Obi and Julius Abure to have their own little house cleaned before they embark on moralizing on the cleanliness or otherwise of other people’s castles. You cannot have logs in your own eyes and pretend to be seeing the specks only in others’.

    Abia State is stinking and dying under the weight of gross misgovernance by Alex Otti as exemplified by his reckless spending including awarding a 5.6km of road in Aba for a whopping N30bn. If that is not even more “sickening and disheartening”, one wonders what then is!

    • Jude Ndukwe, Abuja.

  • Disappointment as COP28 adopts ‘transitioning away’ from fossil fuels

    Disappointment as COP28 adopts ‘transitioning away’ from fossil fuels

    Young climate activists in Dubai were disappointed in a new compromise text at COP28 climate talks yesterday because it stopped short of seeking fossil fuel phase-out.

    The new proposal doesn’t go so far as to seek a “phase-out” of fossil fuels, which more than 100 nations had pleaded for. Instead, it calls for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade.

    That transition would be in a way that gets the world to net zero greenhouse gas emissions in 2050 and follows the dictates of climate science.

    Bangladesh youth advocate Farzana Farouk Jhumu said the mitigation in the new text “is not in full” and there is no mention of fossil fuels other than coal.

    Read Also: Coping with COP28

    Jhumu and other young activists held a demonstration ahead of a plenary to demand the funding of an equitable phaseout from global leaders.

    Some of the language in previous versions of the draft that most upset nations calling for dramatic action to address climate change was altered. Actions that had previously been presented as an optional “could” changed to a bit more directing “calls on parties to.”

    Victoria Walen, an environmental justice lawyer from the United States said, called the new text “poor.”

    Nations were given a few hours to look at what COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber and his team produced.

    Within minutes of opening Wednesday’s session, COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber gaveled approval of the central document — the global stocktake that says how off-track the world is on climate and how it will get back on track — without asking for comments. Delegates stood and hugged each other.

    Earth is on its way to smashing the record for hottest year, endangering human health and leading to ever more costly and deadly extreme weather.

  • Coping with COP28

    Coping with COP28

    • Controversy over delegates obscured the higher matters of our environmental needs

    It was not supposed to be a controversy, but the world’s top environmental conference made headlines for the wrong reasons: Nigeria posted one of the highest numbers of delegates. It was framed as another chapter of extravagance and abuse of event, this time by the Bola Tinubu administration.

    The media, including online, fumed about a country sending 1,411 persons as official delegates. This storm lingered until Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information, spelt out the number of officials and put it at 422, defusing some of the uproar.

    While we may caper about the official number, the Federal Government should have responded early to stop the distractions. Even then the minister did not explain why 422 persons travelled to the United Arab Emirates on the nation’s purse. The absence of explanation should have let the nation focus on the more important matter the administration was doing there: that Nigeria is an environmental emergency and we need to be as present in the world conference as any nation on earth, including China.

    Last year, the nation was a cynosure of nature’s rage. About 33 out of the 36 states in the country were under water, with floods hitting homes, businesses and treasures of the society from north to south. It was a sorry sight as persons lived on water and died under water, without electricity, shelter, food. Millions of our fellow citizens were displaced, and many out of jobs. Those who had worked all their lives to create a routine subsistence had to start over again. Whole towns, villages, cottages fell under water with the swaths turning their inhabitants into migrants without destination. Lokoja, a city in the middle of the country, became a watery grave, and towns in Bayelsa State were more water than land, especially in the coastal areas. Even Lagos State, with all its safeguards and anticipations, had some troubles along the coastline where some residents refused to move ahead of warnings.

    According to the Federal Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria lost between $3.79 billion and $9.12 billion. That is a huge chunk of our patrimony lost to nature’s fury. Hence, the nation, out of love for criticism has moved away from the issue burning us the most. The whole world is lamenting the melting of the ice and surge of oceans and the heat, and how humanity may be heading to the apocalypse of drought, thirst and immersion, a paradox of nature’s nightmare. 

    Read Also: COP28: Toke Makinwa threatens X Influencer with lawsuit 

    COP28 is the world’s prime moment in environmental dialogue and Nigeria is Africa’s big sovereign voice in the matter. A hefty presence is justified, but the minister needed to do a better job of explaining the numbers.

    It was even an issue during the presidential campaign when, as the All Progressives Congress (APC) torch bearer, Asiwaju BolaTinubu, advanced the metaphor of the dynamics of the

     holy communion and the church rat, and led to cries of blasphemy among those who wanted to exploit it for a partisan score.

    Another issue was the power deal between the Federal Government and Siemens, with leaders of both Nigeria and Germany signing it. Power is an important part of the environment. Power is one of Nigeria’s great plagues. So, the power deal, whose workings began with the Buhari administration, should not take a backseat to the squabbles over attendees. It was a pivotal moment if our power challenges become history, and it would mean that Nigerians were fumbling over numbers when we were supposed to embrace the light.

    The United Arab Emirates also announced a plan to infuse resources to help this country tame its environmental problems. Added to that, President Tinubu unveiled 100 energy-efficient buses in a symbolic nod to the future of transportation.

  • COP28: Toke Makinwa threatens X Influencer with lawsuit 

    COP28: Toke Makinwa threatens X Influencer with lawsuit 

    Media personality, Toke Makinwa, has threatened legal action against X influencer, Danny Walter, over his statement about her trip to COP28 in Dubai.

    Danny Walter, in his response to an X user @Hardey0405, alleged that corrupt politicians took Makinwa to COP28 in Dubai.

    @Hardey0405 wrote: “Justifying colonialism is crazzy. Mind you, they stole from us and controlling us.”

    In response, Danny on his official handle said: “The people in power are not stealing from you? At least white people will steal and build something in return, our own people will steal, carry Toke Makinwa to Dubai and build nothing.”

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    Reacting to the influencer’s statement, Toke threatened to take the matter to court by 2024, asking the influencer if he had proof to back up his claim.

    She wrote: “Very wild. I hope you have enough proof to defend this tweet of yours because it will be a very interesting 2024.”

    Daring the media personality, Walter replied, “Proof of what? Was your name not on the list or you didn’t go to Dubai? I will be waiting for 2024, dear. Bring it on.”

    Recall that Makinwa’s attendance at the just concluded COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai had sparked controversies on the social space.

  • COP28: Ogbuku lists NDDC’s gains from climate change conference

    COP28: Ogbuku lists NDDC’s gains from climate change conference

    The Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC),  Samuel Ogbuku, has assured that the commission will continue to promote the use of clean energy as part of the solution to the global climate change.

    He said after attending the Climate Change Conference, COP28, in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, the commission acknowledged  the need for a permanent solution to the environmental challenges in the Niger Delta region because of crude oil exploration and exploitation.

    He said: “The conference in Dubai gave us the opportunity to highlight our position on the climate change issue and seek partnerships and investments in renewable energy. We went there to tell our story as the people of the Niger Delta and to let the world know the impact of crude oil exploration and gas flaring on our environment.”

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    A statement signed on Sunday, December 10, by the NDDC Director Corporate Affairs, Pius Ughakpoteni, said Ogbuku spoke in a live television interview.

    He underlined the negative impact of climate change on the inhabitants of the Niger Delta including forceful migration of many communities due to pollution, flooding and environmental degradation.

    Ogbuku said: “We believe that the Niger Delta region is the most affected in Nigeria by issues of climate change. The impact of crude oil and gas exploration has eroded our environment and most of our communities have been deserted due to urban migration.”

    Reflecting further on the gains of the NDDC from the Climate Change Conference, Ogbuku said:  “I believe we achieved a lot of success. We held discussions on partnerships with various organisations, including the National Council of Climate Change, especially in the area of tackling the issue of gas flaring.”

    The NDDC boss said that the commission was investing in solar power to light up communities in the Niger Delta region, adding that it would recover carbon credits from the investments.

    Giving an insight into the commission’s plans for 2024 and beyond, Ogbuku said: “We are preparing our 2024 budget and we will capture all these investment plans, which include a massive tree-planting campaign and the training of youths in renewable energy to prepare them for the future.”

    In his presentation during an event on the sidelines of the Climate Summit, Ogbuku said that the commission would train 1,000 youths in the Niger Delta region on conversion of fuel engine to condensed Natural Gas (CNG).

    He said: “About 1,000 youths are to be trained on conversion from fuel to gas engine. We want to make Niger Delta the hub of engine conversion, where we can also be outsourcing to other parts of Nigeria.

    “We want to take that bold initiative that is going to engage most of our youths because we also want to be involved in the whole green energy process.”

    The NDDC boss said that the commission decided to take the challenges and prospects of the Niger Delta region to the global conference to elicit the right actions.

    “There is the need for us to tell our own story at the global stage”, Ogbuku said observing that there had been discussions on gas flaring, climate change and carbon emissions, over the years with no substantial results.

    “We have come to a point where we must take the right actions.”

    He said that the commission, through its Environmental Protection and Control Directorate, had established a framework to ensure that all its developmental activities were green energy compliant.

  • Bago unveils green economy blueprint at COP28

    Bago unveils green economy blueprint at COP28

    Governor Umaru Bago of Niger State on Friday unveiled a strategic green economy blueprint document for the state to the global community at the ongoing COP28 Climate Summit in the United Arab Emirates.

    According to Bago, this was to reposition Niger as the leading state in green economy in Nigeria.

    He said the key mandates of the green economy Initiative, as encapsulated in the blueprint document, are interwoven around five interconnected pillars.

    The pillars, he said, are environmental conservation and management of carbon sink assets, sustainable resource management, renewable energy for development, inclusivity, and private sector-led job creation, especially green ones.

    The governor said to help institutionalize these giant strides, he had a few weeks ago, issued an executive order and approved a green economy policy.

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    These efforts, he said, are indications of Niger State’s resolve to safeguard the environment, enhance climate resilience, and foster sustainable resource management.

    Bago said this would diversify its economy, promote clean energy transition, ensure food security, and create green jobs that would empower its communities.

    He said the State is committed to long-term sustainability along the pathway to net zero, planning to plant one billion trees for carbon credits sequestration.

    The trees, he said, would be planted on 760,000 hectares of land in the next four to five years by signing an MoU with the Blue Carbon Organization under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum.

    He said the state also intends to develop large crop farm estates of 10,000 hectares each.

    About 100 of such estates, he said, would be developed across the state, sustainably to manage water resources, produce and process crops, create jobs, and generate wealth for its citizens.

    “Niger State aims to cultivate 250,000 hectares of land annually for sugar, sweet sorghum, cassava, and corn to produce one billion liters annually, thereby helping to reduce significantly greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

  • Managing expectations from Cop28

    Managing expectations from Cop28

    We need to remember that the indigenous worldview teaches us that we are all connected. Not only as human beings but with all living things and all that sustains life. As part of this grand and sacred system, harmony with Nature must be maintained. The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth.” …. His Majesty, King Charles III, at the opening of COP28, Dubai, U.A.E – 1st December, 2023

    The ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference COP28 

    COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), from 30 November to 12 December 2023, is a decisive moment to act on climate commitments and prevent the worst impacts of climate change. 

    The World Climate Action Summit (WCAS), hosted by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, convened Heads of State or Government on 1st and 2nd December 2023 when the first part of the COP28 high-level segment took place. A resumed high-level segment will take place on 9th-10th December 2023. 

     The WCAS provides Heads of State or Government with the opportunity to set the stage for COP28, build on decisions from previous Conferences of the Parties, raise climate commitments, and promote coordinated action to tackle climate change. With over 150 world leaders present in Dubai at this year’s climate conference, it is clear that countries and continents are taking the climate change challenge seriously  

    It is worthy of note in this year’s Climate Conference, that a major milestone of the conclusion of the first assessment of global progress in implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement will be achieved.

     The findings so far are unambiguous; the world is lagging behind the target of limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C by the end of this century. This is notwithstanding the fact that countries are developing plans for a net-zero future.  In my opinion, the key indicator shows a positive disposition of Countries, deliberately moving towards clean energy, albeit the current speed of the transition may not meet global warming containment aspirations.

    A report recently published by UN Climate Change shows that national climate action plans (known as nationally determined contributions, or ‘NDCs’) would collectively lower greenhouse gas emissions to 2% below 2019 levels by 2030, while the science is clear that a 43% reduction is needed. With almost 200 world leaders attending this year’s Climate conference, is an indication of the seriousness with which Countries around the world are taking the issue of climate change and its various negative impacts – short to long terms.

     However, I hope that the conference will not just be about the optics, i.e. handshakes, backslapping and photoshoots. I hope that the strategies and action plans that will be drafted at the end of the conference will be executed timely and sustainably measured by countries, individually and collectively to ensure all the needful are done in order to contain the clear and present dangers of one of the biggest threats in the history of to humanity – climate change.

     In the face of rising conflicts and tensions worldwide, there is a need for collaborative efforts to combat climate change, an area in which nations can work together effectively to ensure a sustainable future both for people and the planet.

     “We don’t have any time to waste. We need to take urgent action now to reduce emissions. At COP28, every country and every company will be held to account, guided by the north star of keeping 1.5°C within reach,” said COP28 President Dr. Sultan Al Jaber.

     Funding imperatives

    Climate Funding, increasing financial resources for adaptation, and operationalizing the loss and damage fund are key to keeping 1.5°C within reach while leaving no one behind.

    The reality is that there is a need for more funding to developing countries to support their climate change containment initiatives and renewables revolution in line with the United Nations Climate Change Strategy, otherwise, the aspiration will not be realized. 

    The Progress on climate finance at COP28 will be crucial to build trust in other negotiation areas and to lay the groundwork for an even more ambitious “New Collective Quantified Goal” for climate finance, which must be in place next year. It will also set the stage for a just and inclusive transition to renewable energy and the phasing out of fossil fuels.

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     The Africa context and efforts

    The 2023 Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI) Conference which took place at the African Union Commission Conference Centre, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 6th to 10th November 2023, underscores the importance of the GGWI in combating climate change and desertification in Africa, as part of a global initiative. The GGWI is in lockstep with the United Nations Climate Change Strategy and Action Plans. The core objective of the African initiative is to build; “a Pan African approach to combat desertification, climate change and the dryland of the continent”.  

     Accordingly, the COP28 coming up days after the GGWI Conference buttresses the focus of countries and continents on collective action to stop climate change with critical attention on more financing and investment in the low-carbon transition. With the active participation of global stakeholders, I am optimistic that investors and other capital markets participants see what’s ahead and back climate commitments with action. In this regard, there is an urgent need for more finance for developing countries to support climate change initiatives and renewables revolution, otherwise, the global climate change strategy will not be impactful.

    Climate Change and Food Security

    Climate change and desertification have been making devastating impacts on our Agriculture, Environment, and Social well-being. Climate change and desertification management should be key elements of the Agriculture and environmental sectoral reform strategy, especially in the risk assessment and mitigation as well as the sustainability modules of the stratagem. Climate change and desertification management from the point of view of early warning systems, disaster/crisis mitigation management, proactive countermeasures, and processes that should cover dependencies and counter-dependencies are critical to the existence and sustainability of our entire agriculture value chains, amongst others

       ”The goal of the Great Green Wall for the Sahel and Sahara Initiative (GGWSI) by 2030 is to restore 100 million hectares of currently degraded land; sequester 250 million tons of carbon and create 10 million green jobs. It is envisaged that this ambition when it becomes reality will transform the drylands of Africa from threat to livelihoods to provider of livelihood. It will transform the lives of millions of people living in poverty and suffering the effects of the climate crisis. It will also help to break the cycle of migration and conflict prevalent in the Sahelian areas of Africa among other positive effects and impacts.”

     Some Key Points to Note for Nigeria

    •As part of his critical initial steps to revamp Nigeria’s economy, President Bola Tinubu has initiated a plan to resolve the country’s food crisis by declaring a state of emergency on food insecurity.

    • To contextualize the topic of today, so that we can appreciate where we are coming from, where we are, and my perspectives on the way forward, I share some statistics:

    •According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2016; In the 1960s, the Agriculture sector contributed 85% of foreign exchange earnings to Nigeria, 80% to employment, and 90% to the GDP.

    •According to the Oxford Business Group (OBG), a global publishing, research, and consultancy firm; the Agriculture sector in Nigeria is currently contributing 25% to GDP and 70% to employment.

    •Recently, the President of the Africa Development Bank (ADB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, stated that Africa currently imports about $ 70 billion worth of food that we can produce. 

    •In the case of food insecurity: According to Dr. Adesina, currently over 280 million Africans go to bed hungry. 

    •According to 2022 UN-funded statistics on food and nutrition projection; by August this year, over 25 million Nigerians will be food insecure. 

     Climate change has been having a devastating impact on our Agriculture. Climate change management should be. A key element of the Agriculture sectoral reform strategy will be risk assessment and mitigation as well as the sustainability modules. Climate change management from the point of view of early warning systems, disaster/crisis mitigation management, and proactive countermeasures and processes that should cover dependencies and counter-dependencies are critical to the existence and sustainability of our entire agriculture value chain.

     In specific terms, we must be proactive. We saw what happened last year when the Cameroun Dam crisis impacted River Benue with devastating consequences on all the farmlands along the entire farming corridor of the middle belt, the flood also wreaked havoc on the farming, fishing, and food logistics and supply chain throughout north to the southern part of Nigeria was brutal. 

     I expect that all the necessary support will be given to the relevant institutions that are charged with the statutory responsibilities for containing the threats and vagaries of climate to Nigeria, the Sahel region, and the continent of Africa as a whole. 

     I expect that Nigeria will sustain all our climate change initiatives and be better prepared in 2024 to further strengthen our resolve to protect our ecosystem. 

  • COP28 Dubai December 2023

    COP28 Dubai December 2023

    It seems the campaign for reversing the environmental damage and climate warming caused by human activities leading to climate change and environmental degradation has become a jamboree like the UNGA (United Nations General Assembly) meeting every year in New York from mid-September to the end of the year, passing many resolutions which are unenforceable.  The United Nations Conference of Parties to the Global Convention on climate change otherwise known as COP28 holding in Dubai in the UNITED ARAB EMIRATES from November 30 to December 12 has collectively called for accelerated action, higher ambition against the escalating climate crisis. It has focused on what has been done previously to address the issue of climate change and what can be done to address the urgency of the problem. There is no doubt that some efforts have been made to address these issues even though not sufficient to match the urgency. There is gradual move from the internal combustion engine to electric vehicles in America, Canada China and some other nations as well as abandoning coal energy or its planned phase out in China and the USA and Canada even though countries like India and Australia depend on it for domestic use and export. Industrial processes are now embracing green technologies in manufacturing processes.

    Environmental policies are not generally popular and acceptable to everyone domestically. There has been general criticism about the huge sizes of country’s delegations at these conferences. The sizes of the delegations do not generally reflect the seriousness, commitment or ability to effectively affect the issues and the application of resolutions on mitigation, adaptation or reversal of the damage already inflicted on our common single human planet. The question of abatement, mitigation and possible reversal was taken much more seriously in the past than the present situation which seems to be influenced by domestic politics and audiences rather than the collective good of mankind. What goes on now reminds me of what the older president George Walker Herbert  Bush said in one of his reflections on leadership, that there is so much time wasted by long speeches by all countries at international fora and that the smaller the country, the longer the speeches. Cynical as it may sound, I ask the question of what impact the speech by an eloquent prime minister of one of the Caribbean island countries on climate change may have apart from the point of view of a victim if the big polluters like China, the USA and India continue their industrial production of, and dependence on hydrocarbons.  Morality is not usually a big factor in how international politics is played! The consequences of global warming and coming climate change are here with us in the unseasonable rainfall, snow fall, floods, bushfires, drought, high temperatures. This year’s temperature is the highest in recorded history; rise in ocean temperatures, melting of the ice caps, sea rise, coastal erosion and occurrences of pandemics and other health issues.

    We now generally know what to do to ensure that the rise in the temperature of world does not go beyond 1.5C by the end of this century above pre industrial temperature as agreed to in the Paris protocol of 2015. Anything above this poses existential challenge to mankind. The COP28 is the 20th meeting of global leaders to address this problem.  This is a conference attended by about 160 global leaders representing countries, business, academia, the press and critical leaders all over the world. The central core of the problem is economic. The vast number of mankind was not responsible for global warming. The developed countries of Europe, America, and the OECD countries generally whose advanced economies were and are still dependent on hydrocarbons  and consequent greenhouse emissions were responsible for global warming and they have now been joined by China, India and the oil producers of the Middle East in their contribution to global greenhouse emissions. Even though the “polluter pays “principle makes political sense but it does not address the existential problem of global environmental damage. The developing countries including even China and India and the rest of us in the Third world are right to argue that we cannot abandon our own industrial plan of development in order to protect the global environment unless those responsible for the damage ab initio come up with plan to help our development through economic and financial transfer to help the developing countries adapt to the present global situation. Countries like Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Indonesia, whose forests constitute the lungs of the earth because of their absorption of carbon emissions and release of oxygen into the air would have to be assisted to preserve their forests.

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    Nigeria also can make the same argument in preserving what is left of our tropical forests and also our plans for reforestation. The onus to contribute substantially to the global fund for this purpose lies on the developed countries. The domestic politics of these countries do not permit the kind of generosity or economic policies that would help the environment if people are going to lose their jobs. To arrive at a workable solution will require considerable amount of political will on the part of leaders in America, Canada, Europe,  China, India, Japan, Australia,  Russia, Brazil  and the oil producing countries especially those in the Middle East.

    A UN publication indicates that if we continue at the present trajectory of nationally determined abatement measures the world will reach 2 degrees Celsius above the pre industrial level of temperature which is clearly higher than the 1.5 degrees Celsius globally agreed to. Studies show we need 43 percent further reduction of our current levels of greenhouse emissions before 2050 or earlier. Climate finance stands at the heart of the problem. There is need to replenish the GREEN CLIMATE FUND (GCF), and DOUBLING FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR ADAPTATION and to agree on the operational mechanisms for deployment of resources to tackle the problem of climate change. The host country – the United Emirates has pledged $200 million which is encouraging but is just a drop in the ocean of the trillions of dollars needed. The OECD countries and China would have to open their pockets to donate what is needed for abatement and for adaptation to address the problem of the climate. 

    There also has to be a paradigm shift all over the world in industrial processes and production away from the old fashioned way of dependence on hydrocarbons.  This must be collectively negotiated and agreed upon and hopefully the basis of this would be agreed upon before delegates leave Dubai in readiness for 2025 when stakeholders would have to assess how far we have advanced in our journey to save the environment and reach a sustainable level of economic development that would not damage the global environment. The emphasis from now on would have to be green energy based on renewable energy sources like wind, tidal, thermal, solar sources and the growing and cutting edge research on renewable energy.