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Tolu Ogunlesi
On Monday September 23, 2019, President Buhari participated alongside other world leaders in the United Nations Climate Action Summit 2019.
Since then I have seen conversations on Twitter doing what Twitter allows many people to spend a lot of their time on: getting things horribly wrong and/or focusing on the wrong things, while completely missing the real/meaningful/actual message.
And so this is a backgrounder/explainer, focusing on Nigeria’s commitment to climate action, under the Buhari Administration.
The Climate Action Summit was convened by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, to provide an opportunity for world leaders to, I quote, “come to New York on 23 September with concrete, realistic plans to enhance their nationally determined contributions by 2020, in line with reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent over the next decade, and to net zero emissions by 2050.”
The theme of President Buhari’s panel was “Towards a Resilient Future” – with the rider: “Announcement of plans to mainstream climate risk in decision making.”
So, note that the goal of the panel was to elicit ‘announcements’ from the panelists on behalf of their respective countries: Fiji, Nigeria, Netherlands, the Bank of England, etc. In other words, panelists were billed to deliver remarks announcing their country/organisation plans to build a resilient, climate-sensitive, future.
President Buhari chose to deliver prepared remarks.
And the moderator’s question, was, in keeping with the theme: “President Buhari, Nigeria has a very young population; perhaps you might highlight what a pathway for a resilient future looks like?”
The President did exactly that, in his prepared remarks, over the next few minutes, highlighting what a “resilient future” — from a Climate Change point-of-view (keeping in mind the theme of the event and the focus of the Panel) – will look like in/for Nigeria.
And he did this by focusing on his administration’s climate-friendly policies (the ones already being implemented, like the Green Bonds, and the ones set for implementation, like the new tree-planting campaign, and the energy mix target).
His prepared remarks were wholly in alignment with the theme of the Panel event, and the question he was asked.
Keep in mind that as panels often work the moderator’s question was meant to invite/usher him to take the stage, and share his remarks. As a panelist it was up to him to choose to respond ex tempore, or to go the ‘prepared remarks way.’
He chose the prepared remarks way. And most importantly, he touched on the issues re: mainstreaming climate action for the future and for the young people of Nigeria.
The full text of his Remarks below. The only story here, for all serious and sensible people, is what he said, and what it means for the future and for the young people of Nigeria:
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“I share the sentiment expressed by the Secretary-General that the world is on the verge of climate catastrophe. Undeniably, Climate Change is a human-induced phenomenon.
It is now imperative that we must step-up our collective climate actions in line with the request of the Secretary General. It is in this regard that I wish to reiterate Nigeria’s commitment to its obligation under the Paris Agreement, the aspirations enshrined in our Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and ensure a resilient future that mainstreams climate risks in our decision making.
I want to announce that the Government of Nigeria will develop a more robust sectorial action plan, and expand the scope of our Sovereign Green Bonds in line with our intended upward review of Nigeria’s NDC’s towards the inclusion of the water and waste sectors by 2020.
In the water sector, Nigeria will issue a Green Bond for irrigation and construct multi-purpose dams for power, irrigation and water supply. We will strengthen solid and liquid waste management systems to attract more private sector investors.
We will take concrete steps to harness climate innovative ideas by including youths in decision making processes as part of our over-all climate governance architecture.
We will mobilize Nigerian youths towards planting 25 million trees to enhance Nigeria’s carbon sink.
In the energy sector, Nigeria is presently diversifying its energy sources from dependence on gas-powered system to hydro, solar, wind, biomass and nuclear sources.
Specifically, Nigeria is progressively working to realize 30 percent energy efficiency and renewable energy mix by 2030.
This is envisaged to lead to 179 million tons of carbon dioxide reduction per annum by 2030.
In addition, our Administration intends to develop a shelter belt across 11 States of the Federation spanning a distance of 1,500 km and 15km across through the Great Green Wall initiative.
Furthermore, the Federal Government has commenced the implementation of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Programme in Ogoniland, to recover the carbon sink potential of the mangrove ecosystem of the one thousand square kilometers (1,000 KM2) polluted site in the affected area.
I should also inform the summit that our Government has introduced Climate Smart Agricultural Practices to unlock Seventy-Four (74) Million tons of carbon dioxide per annum, through relevant technologies, advocacy and best practices.
As you are aware, the Lake Chad Basin, which used to be a region of productivity, food security and wealth for an estimated 40 million citizens living around the Chad Basin, has shrunk significantly from its original size due to Climate Change.
We will continue to lead in efforts to have solid partnerships for the ecological restoration and recharge of the Lake.
We are confident that this would improve the living conditions of the diverse nationals living in the area, promote inter-state cooperation, strengthen community resilience, as well as assist in addressing the environmental and security crisis that threaten the region, its resources and inhabitants.
Finally, permit me to add that the forty million citizens in the Lake Chad area expect this Summit to take into consideration their concerns. They anticipate that the outcomes of this meeting would include solutions to address the Climate Change impact in the Lake Chad area.
I am glad that the Secretary General and some of the member states represented in this hall are partnering with us in this endeavor. We thank them for their cooperation and I look forward to deepening our partnership.
I thank you.”
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Takeaways
The takeaways for the young people of Nigeria are highlighted above. The important things to do now should be around holding the Government to account on these ‘announcement’ and promises, and ensuring they are fulfilled and delivered in a timely manner.
One of the most exciting should be the tree-planting campaign. Ethiopia recently set a world record on that account — perhaps Nigeria’s young people might even be able to pressure the Government into scaling up the ambitions of our own planned tree-planting campaign. Why should we let Ethiopia keep that record without a fight?
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