Partners of a new UN-led platform to mobilise and accelerate action on climate resilience agreed on Friday to move ahead with plans that will help meet the needs of a growing global population that is being impacted by climate change.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s A2R initiative was launched at COP21. Photo credit: ibtimes.co.uk
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Initiative on Climate Resilience, known as A2R (Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape), was launched by world leaders during the Paris Climate Conference last year.
The A2R Leadership Group comprises Germany, Egypt, Morocco, Samoa, the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation’s Global Resilience Partnership; Bangladesh based philanthropic Bank BRAC, Insurance Development Forum (IDF), Red Cross and Red Crescent Climate Centre, Yale Centre for Environmental Law and Policy, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
The Leadership Group is charged with implementing the transformational vision embedded in the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through an unprecedented global multistakeholder partnership.
It will catalyse climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction efforts to support people in addressing the challenge of climate change, contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In the past two decades, 4.2 billion people have been affected by weather-related disasters such as floods, droughts and storms, including a significant loss of lives. At the same time, climate change is increasing at an unprecedented pace. Global surface temperatures and Arctic sea ice extent broke numerous records in the first half of 2016. In addition, each of the first six months of 2016 set a record as the warmest respective month globally in modern temperature records, which date to 1880.
“We have no time to lose,” Mr. Ban told the Leadership Group. “The global thermostat continues to rise. Each month brings new temperature records and more floods, droughts and extreme weather events. Vulnerability to climate risk continues to increase. This translates to greater humanitarian need and more economic losses.
“The A2R initiative will help countries secure expertise and financial resources for strengthening climate resilience. Today’s launch of the Leadership Group establishes A2R’s place within the UN system.”
“More than a tenth of the world’s population faces climate risks,” said Ibrahim Thiaw, deputy head of UNEP. “The A2R initiative cannot solve this major challenge alone: we must work with the best partners to deliver more effective, scaled up action on climate resilience on the ground.”
The A2R initiative addresses the needs of the nearly one billion people who live in at-risk coastal areas just a few meters above rising seas, as well as those living in areas at risk of droughts, floods, storms and other climate-related risks.
“The hardest hit are the poor and vulnerable, including smallholder farmers, fishers, foresters and the indigenous – the same people who provide the bulk of our planet’s food,” said Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General of FAO. “To feed a growing global population in a changing climate, we must support farming families to adopt risk sensitive agriculture for more productive, resilient and sustainable food systems.”
UNDP Administrator Helen Clark said, “Building resilience is at the heart of UNDP’s efforts to promote a more inclusive and sustainable future for all. Climate change threatens livelihoods and erodes opportunities for poverty eradication.”
A2R focuses on accelerating climate resilience for the most vulnerable before 2020 by strengthening three elements: the capacity to better anticipate and act on climate hazards through early warning and early action; the capacity to absorb shocks by increasing insurance and social protection coverage; and the capacity to adapt development to reduce risks at the local, national, regional and international level.
At its first meeting on Saturday, 24th September, the initiative’s Leadership Group and partners will discuss the need for measurable targets for each of the three pillars of A2R and ensure a high profile for A2R’s role in promoting the importance of climate resilience at the next global climate meeting (COP22) in Marrakech.
Following torrential rains across northern Nigeria, floods have destroyed about 100 houses and rendered over 500 people homeless in Zamfara State, Northwest part of the country.
Dr. Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar, governor of Zamfara State
A 60-year-old woman was also reported to have been killed in the floods which occurred recently. Victims are now calling for assistance from the government.
The floods, which occurred in Gumi and Gayari towns of Gumi Local Government Area, also destroyed farmlands and killed several animals.
Speaking on behalf of the victims, Muhammad Bala, a victim, called on governments at the federal, state and local levels to come to their aid by providing them with relief materials to alleviate the loses.
Confirming the incidence, Vice Chairman of Gumi Local Council Area of the state, Sa’idu Bawa, said a request for assistance would be forwarded to both state and federal governments after the official compilation of the extent of the damage.
“Apart from the disaster in Gumi town, the floods also happened in Gayari district. After the assessment, we will compile the list of the victims after which the local government council will give its support to the victims,” he said.
The floods affected Albarkawa, Yardiga, Yartsayasu and Lemawa areas of Gummi town.
Also recently, six people lost their lives in a boat mishap in the local government area in Zamfara State.
As climate activists, negotiators, policy makers, and world leaders warm up in anticipation for the COP22 climate negotiations slated for November in Marrakech, Morroco, there is wide apprehension that pro-fossil fuels negotiators are busy scheming their usual shenanigans deals – observers believe is capable of truncating successful conduct of the global summit.
Marrakech, Morocco will host COP22 in November 2016
Based on past antecedents, Conferences of the Parties (COPs) have failed woefully; except Paris COP21 which managed to give a ray of hope – despite obvious interference and sponsorship gestures by pro-fossil fuels industrialists. The tangible success recorded was attributed to massive clarion calls on restricting the influence of fossil fuels industries in the two-week negotiation.
The entirety of the fossil industry unabatedly indulges in hazardous oil sand exploration, shale gas fracking and coal fired plants, which are strategically stationed across the globe. There are irreparable atrocities being committed by the fossil fuel industry, which is characterised by exponential increase in atmospheric carbon emissions and other poisonous gases. These collectively hasten depletion of earth’s shield (ozone), ignite the impact of global warming and fuel the tendency for earth to warm above 1.5 degree Celsius. However, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in conjunction with over 190 countries, is fully committed and devising means of repressing average global temperature rise to the barest minimum.
What is puzzling is how the conglomerates comprising the pro-fossil fuel industry keep sponsoring a conference convened in mapping and striking their businesses into perpetual oblivion. Evidently, this should be seen as a bait towards enchanting the conference organisers and participants to jettisoning their mission of facilitating just transition to renewables.
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the World Health Organisation (WHO) – in an effort to holistically address conflict of interests between tobacco industry and that of public health policy – has decisively dealt with Tobacco Industry’s obstructions by imposing mandatory penalties for lobbyists paying for conferences while also banning them from partaking in public health policy deliberations. This is commendable approach has yielded positive outcomes in tobacco control advocacy.
In the same vein, there is a compelling need to replicate such feat in COP22. Sequel to the unending yearly conflict of interests witnessed by the fossil fuel industry and UNFCCC, this could best be sorted out by formulating and strictly implementing similar policies by banning pro-fossil fuels from conferences and curtailing their excesses. Through this, the fight for a just transition to 100 percent renewables would be easily achieved without a glitch.
Another pertinent conflict of interest that greatly hampers just transition to the renewables, which needed to be proactively dealt with is Double Standards Syndrome. UNFCCC should be watchful and at alert, as far as any of the world leaders — who signed the Paris Agreement continues to embark on fossil fuel projects; COP gatherings are likely not to yield any positive result soon.
There is an urgent need to adopt stiffer penalties by extending the sanction gestures to those reneging on their promises – if there is sincere commitments to rescue the planet earth from further destruction.
The conglomerate of pro-fossil fuel’s interference and Double Standards Syndrome by World leaders would not only impede the conference progress, but also spell a doom for the whole world. These are the two thorny bones in the flesh that UNFCCC must rise up to proactively address.
Henry M. Paulson Jr., the chairman of the Paulson Institute, a former Treasury secretary and chief executive of Goldman Sachs, in this op-ed published recently in the New York Times, suggests way to raise trillions of dollars for investments sustainable development ventures
Henry M. Paulson Jr., the chairman of the Paulson Institute, a former Treasury secretary and chief executive of Goldman Sachs, explores avenues for green funding
Saving our planet from the worst effects of climate change won’t be cheap. A new report from the United Nations says that the world will need to mobilise $90 trillion in public and private capital over the next 15 years.
As a point of comparison, global gross domestic product in 2015 was $73 trillion. But there is no question that the world needs to ramp up its transition to a low-carbon, environmentally sustainable and resilient economy, and to do so rapidly. The question is, how do we pay for it, given the limited availability of government funding, particularly in developing countries?
The answer: private financing. The good news is that there is a global abundance of private capital. To unlock these riches, governments must create conditions that encourage private investment in clean technologies and sustainable development. With smart, well-designed and coordinated policies, financing models and instruments like bonds and incentive programs, countries have the potential to solve some of the planet’s most pressing environmental challenges while still maintaining economic growth.
That is why it is essential for world leaders meeting in New York this week for Climate Week to stay focused on building an international consensus around “green finance.”
Understanding how government can spur this type of investment was a focus of the recent G20 summit meeting in Hangzhou, China. For the first time, these countries reached an agreement on a set of principles to govern green finance and recognized its potential for stimulating economic growth. This is an essential first step in creating an international financial system to support green projects and for providing guidelines for countries on policies to encourage their banking systems to make green investments.
There have been successful experiments in green finance. The global green bond market is growing rapidly — to $41.8 billion in 2015 from $11 billion in 2013. Moreover, innovative financing solutions are being used around the world — private firms in Mexico and India are financing private wind parks; multinational trust funds are supporting solar plants in India, South Africa and Morocco. A new universe of financial instruments and policies are lowering the cost of capital for green growth.
The challenge now is to build on these successes and ensure that green finance mechanisms are widely adopted so that capital markets can allocate financing to low-carbon sectors of the economy that have the potential to generate growth and jobs.
For this to happen, countries will need to adopt policies that reduce the price of low-carbon investments to make them more attractive for private investors. These policies include environmental regulations to stimulate clean, sustainable development; incentives and subsidies for clean energy investments; and the pricing of carbon emissions, which can be done in a variety of ways, including emissions trading and taxes. We also need to eliminate subsidies that encourage the use and extraction of carbon-based energy like coal and oil. Such policies will take strong political will, especially as economic growth is slowing.
China has taken important steps in this direction and has declared green finance a “strategic imperative.” The country faces a significant challenge. It needs $1 trillion over the next five years to make investments in efficient buildings, low-carbon transportation and clean energy in its cities. But the government can afford to finance only 15 percent of that, according to a recent report by my organization, the Paulson Institute, along with Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Green Finance Committee of China Society for Banking and Finance.
Accordingly, China recently began an initiative to raise private capital through the sale of green bonds. After just six months, these bonds now account for 40 percent of the global market. Recent guidelines issued by the government outline an ambitious road map for creating green lending, environmental stress tests, benchmarks to ensure credibility of green investments, disclosure requirements and innovative public private partnerships. For instance, the Building Efficiency and Green Development Fund will provide financing to use new technologies from American companies in China to make building more energy-efficient. (The nonprofit Paulson Institute, which seeks to strengthen relations between the United States and China on economic and environmental issues, is an adviser to this fund.)
China also has announced plans to create a nationwide carbon market in 2017 that is on track to become the largest in the world. Pilot exchanges already allow Chinese pollution emitters in several cities to trade carbon credits, earned by reducing emissions, to other companies that have been less successful in reducing their carbon discharges. In this way, China is trying to turn an environmental liability into an economic asset. If these exchanges work, they will be powerful examples for the rest of the developing world.
Financing the world’s transition to a low-carbon economy will be costly, but we can’t afford not to do it and, it is important to note, it is feasible. We have the ideas, the models and the capital to make it happen. What’s needed now is leadership from global policy makers to prioritize the development of a global green finance system.
Africa has abundant renewable energy resources. Traditionally reliant on hydropower, the continent is turning to solar photovoltaics (PV) to bolster energy security and support rapid economic growth in a sustainable manner.
A solar grill stove in use by rural women
With recent substantial cost reductions, solar PV offers a rapid, cost-effective way to provide utility-scale electricity for the grid and modern energy services to the approximately 600 million Africans who lack electricity access.
According to a recently released report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) titled “Solar PV in Africa: Costs and Markets”, installed costs for power generated by utility-scale solar PV projects in Africa have decreased as much as 61 per cent since 2012 to as low as $1.30 per watt in Africa, compared to the global average of $1.80 per watt.
The report shows that mini-grids utilising solar PV and off-grid solar home systems also provide higher quality energy services at the same or lower costs than the alternatives. Stand-alone solar PV mini-grids have installed costs in Africa as low as $1.90 per watt for systems larger than 200 kilowatt. Solar home systems provide the annual electricity needs of off-grid households for as little as $56 per year, less than the average price for poor quality energy services.
IRENA estimates that, with the right enabling policies, Africa could be home to more than 70 gigawatts of solar PV capacity by 2030. The report discusses challenges in policy making and proposes a co-ordinated effort to collect data on the installed costs of solar PV in Africa, across all market segments. Such information will improve the efficiency of policy support and accelerate deployment.
Leaders from over 100 countries are calling for ambitious amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase down HFCs, even as donors announce intent to provide $80 million of support
Kigali in Rwanda will host the 28th Meeting of the Parties (MOP 28) to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in October The meeting will adopt an amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase down HFCs
The United States on Thursday hosted a gathering of countries in New York to provide a boost of momentum to the upcoming international negotiations to adopt an amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase down the potent greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The event highlighted two significant announcements.
First, more than 100 countries called for securing an ambitious amendment with an “early freeze date.” This group includes the United States, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, all 28 countries in the European Union, all 54 countries in Africa, and several island states that are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Complementing this announcement, more than 500 companies and organisations and hundreds of sub-national governments called upon world leaders to take strong action on HFCs.
Second, a group of donor countries and philanthropists announced their intent to provide $80 million in support to help countries in need of assistance (i.e., Article 5 countries) implement an ambitious amendment and improve energy efficiency. The philanthropic component of this is the largest-ever private grant made for energy efficiency in this sector.
HFCs are factory-made chemicals that are primarily used in air conditioning, refrigeration, and foam insulation, and they can be hundreds to thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide in contributing to climate change. If left unchecked, global HFC emissions could grow to be equivalent to 19 percent of total carbon dioxide emissions in 2050. There are alternative refrigerants available that have comparable performance to HFCs but with significantly reduced climate-changing properties.
Securing an ambitious amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase down HFCs could avoid up to 0.5°C of warming by the end of the century, making a major contribution to the Paris Agreement goal to limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C. Countries agreed last November to “work within the Montreal Protocol to an HFC amendment in 2016,” and they have subsequently worked intensively during a series of negotiations this year toward consensus on the terms of such an amendment. Next month, countries will gather at the Montreal Protocol Meeting of the Parties in Rwanda for final negotiations on the amendment.
Launch of the Coalition to Secure an Ambitious HFC Amendment At an event hosted by Secretary of State John Kerry, senior government officials representing over 100 governments released the “New York Declaration of the Coalition to Secure an Ambitious HFC Amendment.” The declaration calls for adopting an ambitious HFC phasedown amendment at the upcoming Meeting of the Parties with an early freeze date for Article 5 countries, in addition to an early first reduction step for non-Article 5 countries.
In addition to the broad support for an ambitious amendment overall, the commitment for an “early freeze date” is a key element for achieving a strong climate outcome. The freeze date is the year when countries stop increasing the production and consumption of HFCs and begin the process of phasing them down, and it is therefore critical to achieving the emissions reductions associated with an amendment.
New Finance Announcements In tandem with the declaration for an ambitious amendment, a group of donor countries and philanthropists announced their intent to provide $80 million in assistance to Article 5 countries to implement an amendment and improve energy efficiency.
A group of 16 donor countries – consisting of the United States, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, and New Zealand – announced their intent to provide $27 million in 2017 to the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund to provide fast-start support for implementation if an ambitious amendment with a sufficient early freeze date is adopted this year. Such funding is one-time in nature and will not displace donor contributions going forward.
Complementing the funding announced by donor countries on Thursday, the following group of 19 philanthropists announced their intent to provide $53 million to Article 5 countries to support improvements in energy efficiency: Barr Foundation; Bill Gates; Children’s Investment Fund Foundation; ClimateWorks Foundation; David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Heising-Simons Foundation; Hewlett Foundation; John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Josh and Anita Bekenstein; John and Ann Doerr; Laura and John Arnold; Oak Foundation; Open Philanthropy Project; Pirojsha Godrej Foundation; Pisces Foundation; Sandler Foundation; Sea Change Foundation; Tom Steyer; and Wyss Foundation. This support reflects a strong recognition from private philanthropists of the dual benefits associated with taking advantage of the transition to HFC alternatives to also improve energy efficiency.
Together, this funding will enable Article 5 countries to begin developing programs to track and reduce HFCs and help their consumers and businesses realise the net economic benefits from energy efficiency as they transition to HFC alternatives. Thursday’s announcement from philanthropists represents the single largest private grant ever made in this sector for energy efficiency. Based on experience in the United States, this scale of investment could yield billions of dollars in economic benefits for Article 5 countries and help to offset any upfront costs associated with transitioning past HFCs.
Technical Progress Demonstrating that in addition to galvanizing support for an ambitious amendment and providing new resources, the United States is also committed to addressing technical questions associated with phasing down HFCs, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday published the results of a testing programme to evaluate the performance of HFC alternatives in rooftop air conditioning units in high ambient temperatures. The testing programme was launched in response to questions over whether HFC alternatives can perform well in hot and extremely hot temperatures.
The results demonstrate that several viable replacements exist for both HCFC-22 and HFC-410A – two of the most common refrigerants used today – and that these potential replacements perform just as well at high temperatures as today’s refrigerants. The testing programme was conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and guided by a panel of prominent technical experts from Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Peru, Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). The new report can be found here.
Last year, ORNL conducted a similar testing programme for mini-split air conditioning units. The results of that testing programme can be found here.
Call to Action from Companies and Sub-National Governments Building on the announcements in New York on Thursday, more than 500 national and international companies and organisations and hundreds of sub-national governments are also calling – individually and/or through their associations – for an ambitious amendment to the Montreal Protocol and have issued the following statement:
By avoiding up to 0.5°C of warming by the end of the century, a Montreal Protocol hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phasedown amendment is one of the most significant steps the world can take now to deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement. Today, we call upon world leaders to adopt in October an ambitious amendment to the Montreal Protocol, including an early first reduction step for Article 2 countries and a freeze date for Article 5 countries that is as early as practicable, and we declare our intent to work to reduce the use and emissions of high-global-warming-potential HFCs and transition over time to more sustainable alternatives in a manner that maintains or increases energy efficiency.
Signatories of the statement include the following companies, organisations, and associations: 3M; Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI); Airgas; The Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy; Arkema; Aspen Skiing Company; Aveda; Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc.; Berkshire Hathaway Energy; BioAmber Inc.; Brazilian Association for HVAC-R (ABRAVA); Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy (BICEP); CA Technologies; Cap & Seal Co.; Catalyst Paper; Ceres; CH2M; The Chemours Company; Daikin U.S. Corporation; Danfoss; Dell Inc.; The Dow Chemical Company; DSM; Dynatemp International; Eileen Fisher; Emerson Climate Technologies; Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2); European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE); Falcon Safety Products; Gap Inc.; General Mills; Godrej Group; Golden Refrigerant; Hewlett Packard Enterprise; Honeywell; Hudson Technologies; ICP Adhesives & Sealants, Inc.; Ingersoll Rand; The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association (JRAIA); Johnson Controls; Lapolla Industries, Inc.; Lennox International; Mexichem; Microsoft; Midwest Refrigerants; Mission Pharmacal Company; National Refrigerants; Nike; Red Bull; Refrigerants Australia; Refrigerants, Naturally!; Rheem Manufacturing Company; RM2; SEVO Systems, Inc.; shecco america; Solvay; Symantec; Tri Global Energy; True Refrigeration; Unilever; and Virginia Mason Health System.
These companies include producers of the chemicals, manufacturers of equipment that use HFCs, and end-users, which demonstrates that companies throughout the HFC supply chain support strong global action on HFCs.
Signatories of the aforementioned statement also include ICLEI USA, which represents hundreds of sub-national governments; Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, Mayors’ National Climate Action Agenda Member and Compact of Mayors Member; Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, C40 Vice-Chair and Mayors’ National Climate Action Agenda Member; Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, C40 Vice-Chair and Mayors’ National Climate Action Agenda Co-Founder; Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, Mayors’ National Climate Action Agenda Member; San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Mayors’ National Climate Action Agenda Member; and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, C40 Member and Mayors’ National Climate Action Agenda Member.
Rights activist, Nnimmo Bassey, at the Nigerian side event – Taking Climate Action for Sustainable Development – on Thursday at the UNGA in New York, submits that it is time to robustly enthrone climate justice in the climate negotiations
Nnimmo Bassey is captured on the screens as he reflects on climate finance and climate justice at the UNGA side event
I thank my president and the minister of environment for providing this August space to outline the strides Nigeria is making on tackling climate as well as overall environmental change.
The Niger Delta clean-up based on the UNEP Report on the Assessment of the Ogoni Environment is an excellent example of government concern for the health of the peoples and the environment as opposed to corporate focus on only profit. Coupled with the plans to end routine gas flaring, we can say that these will add up to reduce green house emissions, tackle global warming and allow the people a chance to breathe fresh air after decades of ecological despoliation. This task requires the support of the global community. Thank you Mr President.
It is good that Nigeria spent time studying the Paris Agreement before signing it. The importance of taking such steps makes deep reflections a necessity. The big questions now are with regard to the implications at a global level of contributions determined at national levels. Overall, such contributions are largely shots in the dark since they are not predicated on some scientifically allotted quantities towards meeting global emissions reduction targets.
Mechanisms should be put in place to encourage countries to urgently review their NDCs, on the basis of historical responsibility and on equitably assigned targets based on a fair sharing of the global carbon budget. The aggregate commitments currently on the table simply do not measure up to what is needed.
Currently, we see countries like ours setting targets that would see them doing more than their fair share in terms of emissions cuts – than the powerful nations that are also the most polluting whose NDCs do not generally rise to much more than 20 percent of what they ought to do.
Nigeria proposes to stop routine gas flaring, invest more on solar and other renewable energy sources. She also plans to ensure efficient resource utilisation, including through mass transit. Reforestation and “climate smart” agriculture are also on the cards. On that point we believe that what is needed are culture smart, ecologically sound agriculture devoid of genetic engineering or gene drives.
But who will fund the lofty NDCs that Nigeria has committed to? We submit that it is time to robustly enthrone climate justice in the climate negotiations. It is time to elevate the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) beyond being a mere notion as it now is in the Paris Agreement. It is also time to to support the vulnerable on the critical issue of loss and damage caused by climate impacts.
Permit us to repeat the crucial issue of historical responsibility. Historical responsibility cannot be denied for ever. Someone has eaten up the climate budget. I’m sure our president could characterise this as climate corruption. If someone has polluted through the years and somebody else is condemned to suffer the impacts, the call for payment of the ecological or climate debt should not be denied or delayed. This will pay for the technology and finance much needed for the transition to clean energy far more than what their national incomes could hope to do in the near term. Climate debt trumps the current Green Climate Fund (GCF) plans.
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his signing of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change has demonstrated Nigeria’s commitment to a global effort to reverse the effects of the negative trend.
Mr President and participants at the meeting on Taking Climate Action for Sustainable Development in New York. He says his signing of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change has demonstrated the country’s commitment to a global effort to reverse the effects of the negative trend
The President said this while addressing the opening of the meeting on Taking Climate Action for Sustainable Development in New York, co-hosted by Nigeria and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as one of the Side Events of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA71).
President Buhari had, shortly before this event, signed the Paris Agreement, where he committed Nigeria to reducing “Green House Gas Emissions unconditionally by 20 per cent and conditionally by 45 per cent” in line with Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions.”
Describing the signing as historic, he also expressed confidence that, with support from development partners, Nigeria would meet stated targets.
The President also promised to ensure the ratification of the Paris Agreement before the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) holding in Marrakesh, Morocco in November 2016.
He stressed that it was to demonstrate his personal dedication to the process of implementing the Agreement that he was hosting the side event on Taking Climate Action Towards Sustainable Development.
President Buhari, who said he was privileged to have been part of the Paris Agreement, expressed appreciation to what he called “the genuine efforts by President Francois Hollande of France in drawing global attention to reviving the Lake Chad Basin,” and for galvanising the political will that led to the global consensus in reaching the Paris Agreement.
The Nigerian President said his country’s commitment to the Paris Agreement is articulated through its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) “that strive to build a climate resilient society across the diverse terrain of Nigeria. We have instituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change to govern implementation of my country’s NDCs, thereby ensuring a strong cross-sectoral approach, coherence and synergy for Climate Action.”
President Buhari, while admitting that implementing the Roadmap would not be easy in the face of dwindling national revenues, however, indicated that both internal and external resources would be mobilised to meet Nigeria’s targets. He added that the 2017 Budget would reflect Nigeria’s efforts to accord priority to realising its NDCs.
“In addition, we are set to launch our first ever Green Bonds in the first quarter of 2017 to fund a pipeline of projects all targeted at reducing emissions towards a greener economy,” he said.
While urging global support to transit to a low-carbon climate resilient economy, the President specifically reminded industrialised nations “to play their role and deliver on their commitments on access to climate finance and technology transfer and help with capacity-building,” adding that, “Expectations are high for their leaders to deliver $100 billion per year by 2020 in support of developing countries to take climate action, thus keeping the promise to billions of people.”
President Buhari, who thanked the Presidents of Chad, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger for attending the event, also called on the international community to “give special recognition to the plight of Lake Chad and support our effort to resuscitate the livelihoods of over 5 million people in the region. This will reinforce our efforts to reintegrate the thousands of Boko Haram victims and returning Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).”
The President noted that the Niger Delta region is a unique biodiversity rich in coastal environment that is highly prone to adverse environmental changes occasioned by climate change, such as sea level rise, coastal erosion, exacerbated by poverty and many decades of oil pollution leading to loss of livelihoods and ecosystems.
He added however, that “through an integrated approach, implementation of the NDCs, and our efforts to clean up Ogoniland, we will improve livelihoods, protect the environment and take climate action, and ensure the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
Nigeria on Thursday, 22 September 2016, signed the Paris Agreement, bringing the total number of signatories to 188. President Muhammadu Buhari signed on behalf of the nation during a brief ceremony at the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) holding at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA.
President Buhari of Nigeria signs the global treaty. President Buhari with R-L: Mr. Stephen Mathias, Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, United Nations; Mr. Santiago Villalpando, Chief of the Treaty Section, OLA, United Nations; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; and Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed as he signs Paris Agreement on Climate Change at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York September 22, 2016.
This follows the signing of the Paris Agreement by the Republic of Moldova and Kyrgyzstan on 21 September, as well as by Malawi, Armenia, Zambia and Chile on 20 September.
On 22 April this year, 175 world leaders signed the Paris Agreement, the most to ever sign a treaty on a single day.
It was projected that, by the end of this week, 190 would have signed the Agreement, including Armenia, Chile, Kyrgyz Republic, Malawi, Moldova, Nigeria, Togo, Turkmenistan, Yemen and Zambia.
At the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP), held in Paris, France, the Parties adopted the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was opened for signature on 22 April 2016.
On this date, 174 States as well as the European Union signed the Agreement and 15 States also deposited their instruments of ratification.
The number of Parties having ratified the Paris Agreement presently stands at 60 States.
Finally, Nigeria has joined the list of nations that have signed the Paris Agreement on climate change. The country is however yet to ratify the global and widely-accepted treaty.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who is attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN Headquarters in New York, signed the dotted lines on Thursday on behalf of the nation.
All set and waiting for President Muhammadu Buhari…Still awaiting Mr President…Finally, Mr President puts pen on paper. Environment Minister, Amina Mohammed, and others look onMr President listens as an official explains a pointMr President briefs an audienceSome members of the Nigerian delegation. Lagos governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, is second right
