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The President, Muhammadu Buhari said Nigeria raised over N30bn to finance its climate change adaptation efforts by issuing two sovereign green bonds.
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While urging the most vulnerable countries to emulate Nigeria’s home-grown resource mobilisation, he said it is “likely to break the yoke of difficulties in accessing funds from developed countries’ financial institutions.”
According to a statement signed by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari spoke at a roundtable addressing climate change and supporting the environment at the UN Conference on LDCs in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday.
The statement was titled ‘Climate financing: emulate Nigeria green bonds, President Buhari tells LDCs.’
The President who was represented by the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, said, ‘‘Domestic resource mobilisation is likely to break the yoke of difficulties in accessing funds from developed countries’ financial institutions, like Nigeria’s issuance of two Sovereign Green Bonds that raised over N30bn.
‘‘LDCs and developing countries must take a serious stand on the Cummings-Montreal resolutions on a new funding mechanism that is flexible, accessible and utilisable.”
He assured that Nigeria would use its position as host of the headquarters of the Sahel Climate Fund to ensure that members accessed climate finance at fairer and reasonable conditions.
The President described climate change as no respecter of any nation, and warned that it posed an imminent danger to human existence and also environmental preservation.
LDCs and developing countries were vulnerable to climatic changes triggered by dwindling rainfall patterns, extreme temperatures, desertification, drought and coastal erosion, he noted.
Buhari added that, ‘‘Nigeria, like other countries of the world, particularly those of the Sahel region has a lot of human activities that dangerously interfere with the earth’s natural defences against solar radiation and temperature change.
‘‘In Africa, diverse impact of climate change is an underlying cause of human population stressors, with conflicts resulting in regional instability.”
The President acquainted the international community with Nigeria’s priorities on climate change.
He said the country had passed a novel climate change Act, essentially focusing on government approach jointly with the private sector.
According to Buhari ‘‘Nigeria is providing leadership to the Pan African Great Green Wall that is focused on land remediation, wetlands and oases recovery, as well as developing a community resilience programme to support the Sahel region towards adaptation and mitigation of these climatic vulnerabilities.
‘‘Furthermore, the country just recently, as a member of the Sahel Region Climate Commission, volunteered and was granted the rights to host the headquarters of the Sahel Climate Fund.”
