More reactions have trailed the shock emergence of businessman and Republican candidate Donald Trump as the President-elect of the United States of America, who defeated Democrat, Hillary Clinton.

Experts have expressed views bordering on the fact that a Trump presidency could portend great danger to the widely-accepted Paris climate change agreement, which commits all Parties to limit global temperature at 1.5 C in order to significantly reduce risks and impacts of climate change.

However, several commentators have expressed fears that the emergency of Donald Trump as the President-elect of the US could scuttle the climate change deal. Mr. Trump has never hidden his disdain for issues related to climate change, which he described during one of his campaigns as a “hoax”.

Addressing journalists on Friday in Abuja on Nigeria’s participation at the UN climate change talks (COP22) holding in Marrakech, Morocco, the Minister of Environment, Mrs. Amina Mohammed, expressed similar concerns about Trump’s position on the phenomenon.

She said the earlier he (Trump) understood that those things he said during the campaigns had no basis in reality, the better for the US and also for the global community.

According to the minister, so many evidences abound across the world to convince anyone that climate change is real.

She said, “We congratulate the American people for their process with democracy. That has really tested them. We are looking to see exactly what it is President-elect, Donald Trump, is going to do in reality.

“In his election campaign, he said  a number of things that gave grave concern to governments around the world. You cannot say that climate change is not real today. Science has proven it, so also has the extent of human suffering and attendant loss of lives and valuable property, given credence to it.

“We can make those connections. This agreement has gone very far, we want US to be part of this because they will benefit as well as us. Our job, when we go to COP this time, is to sit with the delegation and make sure they know the importance of transitioning to the President-elect with clear indications of how important it is to remain at the table with their commitments.”

Mohammed, however, said if the US refused to be persuaded, the world would not wait, saying that “it will not have effect if they don’t go the way they are supposed to go.”

She added, “I hope his rhetoric that we had in the campaign is where he begins to change and he faces realities and knows that much of it cannot be sustained in the reality of today. We are concerned, but we believe we can make him see the light.”

The minister also confirmed that President Mohammadu Buhari, who is leading the delegation from Nigeria to Marrakech, would fulfil his promise by ratifying the climate change agreement during the meeting.

According to her, those who will accompany the President on the trip include: ministers holding related ministries, members of the National Assembly, governors, a team of national negotiators, CSOs, states and the private sectors.

In a related development, environmentalist and climate change negotiator, Prince Lekan fadina, stated that the issue of climate change being a global concern is reflected in the historic acceptance of the Paris Agreement.

His words: “It’s not child’s play to say it is one of the greatest challenge of this generation. It is on record that never in the history of global diplomacy has a treaty been ratified and accepted by the whole world within one year. It shows how important, serious and the need to face its challenges. I honestly believe that there is a wide difference between politicking and governance and this point was underscored by the US President-elect when he said in his acceptance speech that he will be President of all Americans. l believe we should hold him to that statement because he has a responsibility to ensure and sustain the livelihood of the people who live in a world that is threatened by climate change and its attendant consequences.

“It must be stressed that countries negotiated, signed and ratified the climate change issue after extensive discussion, realignment of views and other diplomatic ways of addressing a topic of concern to the world. As a participant and negotiator for many years on climate change, one can say that the Americans not only participated in the COP sessions but provided leadership to ensure that we get to where we are today. It is necessary therefore  to guide, inform and educate the American President-elect as to where we are coming from, where we are and the next steps to ensure the success of the  Agreement and survival of humanity.

“After all, we are all ‘Trustees’ and we must ensure the future of the generations after us including the children and grand-children of the President-elect. The message from the President of COP22 to Trump was timely and to the point. We must follow this path and ensure that he not only supports and acknowledges all the efforts of the American leadership and other world leaders who have played and continue to play significant roles. ln this regard, he must not only strive to make the world a safer and better place, but use his wide experience as a businessman to champion and drive the process the same way he was able to drive the movement of change that propelled him to the corridors of power.

“I will appeal that we all keep hope alive and, through all available means, get to Trump to share our vision and be an active partner in the process.”

About 105 Parties have now deposited their instruments of ratification of the Paris Agreement.

COP22 President, Salaheddine Mezouar, who made the disclosure on Saturday in Marrakech at a press conference held in the company of UNFCC Executive Secretary, Patricia Espinosa, disclosed that the development constituted an important political signal in the fight against climate change.

The press conference was held to mark the halfway point of COP22 and to take stock on progress made at the Marrakech Climate Change Conference ahead of the High-Level Segment scheduled to take place on November 15, with an opening ceremony in the presence of His Majesty (HM) King Mohammed VI of Morocco, UN SG Ban Ki-moon, scores of Heads of State and Government and participating delegations.

The opening day of the High-Level Segment will include the reading of the “Call of Marrakech”, which is a call to action that is a result of a highly inclusive consultative process among Parties.  November 15 will also mark the first session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA1).

Mezouar called on all remaining parties to follow suit as soon as possible in order to keep up the important climate action momentum. Nigeria has said that it will ratify the agreement next week.

At the halfway point of COP22, slated to wrap up on November 18, the COP22 President spoke with a positive tone, saying, “Negotiations are going will and are exemplified by a highly inclusive and consultative process among all Parties.”

He underscored positive actions taken by civil society in the lead up to and during COP22, pointing to the remarkable commitment and engagement of the youth population, who participated in the Conference of Youth (COY12) in Marrakech from November 4 to 6, and who have been highly active in both the Blue and Green Zones during the first week of the COP.

The COP22 President also pointed to the fact that progress is being made on the Paris Agreement rulebook and that important announcements would be made next week regarding capacity building for developing countries. He also underscored the importance of making headway during the UN Climate Conference on the question of climate finance especially as it relates to matching bankable projects with climate funds and mobilising private sector finance to leverage public money.

Following several questions from journalists on the U.S. Presidential election results, the COP22 President answered, “The American peopled are very engaged and committed to the fight against climate change.”

In her remarks, Ms Espinosa thanked Mezouar for his leadership as COP22 President, disclosing: “More than 90 countries have moved from Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to formal Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). This transition has happened in record time which confirms the world’s commitment to addressing climate change.”

A noteable amount of funding has been set aside for Nigeria and other African countries to implement their climate adaptation projects in key areas such as food production, building resilient cities and accelerating renewable energy development.

Known as “Opportunity of the Commons”, the fund which is managed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), aims at assisting poor and developing nations to move at the same pace with their developed counterpart in addressing challenges posed by climate change and subsequently ensuring healthy economies.

Chairperson of GEF, Naoko Ishii, said in a presentation on Saturday that the organisation was focusing attention on African countries because of the huge opportunities that abound on the continent.

She spoke during an orientation course for the Internews’ Earth Journalism Network (EJN) Fellows to the UN climate talks (COP22) holding in Marrakech, Morocco.

“We support partnerships at local, national and regional levels around integrated solutions in areas like energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable cities, land degradation, deforestation, food security and resilience. The newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognise that the health of the global commons is essential for a thriving world. A strong climate agreement backed by action on the ground will help us achieve the SDGs. But, with the underlying drivers of degradation still at play, our efforts must only intensify,” she said.

According to her, part of the criteria for accessing the investment fund include the execution of projects that add value to the lives of greater majority of the masses and the applying organisation should be the aggregate of major stakeholders in the industry from manufacturers to consumers.

On how to access the foundation, Ishii said the GEF works directly with relevant government agencies and prominent bodies in the private sector. The organisation, which was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle the planet’s most pressing environmental problems, is said to have provided $14.6 billion in grants and mobilised an additional $74.6 billion in financing for more than 4,000 projects.

“About two thirds of overall GEF financing can be considered climate related. This funding draws on more than the GEF’s dedicated climate change mitigation and adaptation funding windows to include a range of investments in forests, land and water, all with significant climate benefits. All in all, the GEF will be able to make about $3 billion in climate finance available during 2014-2018 across the entire spectrum of projects and programmes it is providing funding for.”

“The GEF’s recent experiences suggest that deployment of targeted, innovative financial instruments has a significant potential for mobilising private finance. Since GEF-5, a suite of 11 of such projects has mobilised $6.3 million from the private sector for each $1 million from a GEF grant, significantly higher than what typical GEF climate change mitigation projects mobilise. A recent example is the GEF’s provision of $4.5 million as Class A shares to the $150 million AFDB-led Africa Renewable Equity Fund, which targets small scale renewable energy projects across Africa that will enable investments worth approximately $0.5 billion.”

In another presentation, Asher Minns, Head of Communications, Europe Futurearth Research for Global Sustainability, said the total Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by nations required has so far fallen short of meeting the Paris Agreement target as the pledges could only reduce earth warming to about 3 degrees centigrade, as against the 1.5 degrees centigrade proposed by the treaty as minimum temperature to still sustain life on earth. Minns said the way forward was for all nations to aggressively pursue the building of more resilient environment of decarbonisation.

Fifteen EJN fellows from developing countries were trained on the effective coverage of the COP22 in Morocco. A team of EJN staff, led by James Fahn (who heads the EJN), coordinated the orientation training.

By Innocent Onoh