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Why Nigeria will not endorse Paris Agreement on 22 April

There are indications that Nigeria will not participate in the Signature Ceremony of the Paris Agreement scheduled to hold this week in New York. However, the nation’s representatives will grace the occasion.

President Buhari addressing the UN Climate Change Conference COP 21, in Paris, France on 30th Nov 2015
President Buhari addressing the UN Climate Change Conference COP 21, in Paris, France on 30th Nov 2015

The Paris Agreement will be open for signature by the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 22 April and will remain open for signature for one year.

Already, a record number of countries have said they intend to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change at a high-level ceremony at the United Nations headquarters on Friday, on Mother Earth Day.

“The number of countries that have indicated their intentions to attend and sign the Paris Agreement on 22 April is now up to 155,” said UN Secretary General’s spokesperson, Farhan Haq, last Friday.

This, he added, would be a landmark in international law, as the number of signatories of the Paris Agreement would then surpass the previous record of 119 signatures for an opening day signing for an international agreement, set by the Law of the Sea in Montego Bay in 1982.

But Nigeria is not among the 155 listed countries and Acting Director, Department of Climate Change in the Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr Peter Tarfa, confirmed on Monday that the nation would not endorse the international treaty for now.

He said: “Nigeria will be at the (signature) ceremony to grace the event, but will not sign the Paris Agreement that day. In fact, we have no plan to do so for now. We still have a year-long window of opportunity to sign the Agreement.

“We are not signing for now because we need to conduct and conclude an internal consultation process so as to get the buy-in from every one of us. Stakeholders need to know and examine the situation.”

But a source disclosed that the internal consultation process may be concluded before September, when President Muhammadu Buhari, while attending the 71st Regular Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 71) at the UN Headquarters, will likely sign the treaty.

The list of States that will participate in the Signature Ceremony on 22 April and is subject to change:

  1. Afghanistan*
  2. Albania*
  3. Algeria*
  4. Andorra*
  5. Antigua and Barbuda*
  6. Argentina*
  7. Australia*
  8. Austria*
  9. Bahamas*
  10. Bahrain
  11. Bangladesh*
  12. Barbados**
  13. Belarus*
  14. Belize**
  15. Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
  16. Bosnia and Herzegovina*
  17. Brazil*
  18. Brunei Darussalam*
  19. Bulgaria*
  20. Burkina Faso*
  21. Burundi*
  22. Cabo Verde*
  23. Cambodia*
  24. Cameroon*
  25. Canada*
  26. Central African Republic*
  27. Chile*
  28. China*
  29. Colombia*
  30. Congo*
  31. Costa Rica*
  32. Cote d’Ivoire*
  33. Croatia*
  34. Cuba*
  35. Cyprus*
  36. Czech Republic*
  37. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea*
  38. Democratic Republic of Congo*
  39. Denmark*
  40. Djibouti
  41. Dominica*
  42. Dominican Republic*
  43. Eritrea*
  44. Estonia
  45. European Union
  46. Fiji**
  47. Finland*
  48. France*
  49. Gabon*
  50. Georgia*
  51. Germany*
  52. Ghana
  53. Greece
  54. Grenada*
  55. Guatemala*
  56. Guinea
  57. Guyana*
  58. Haiti*
  59. Honduras*
  60. Hungary
  61. Iceland
  62. India
  63. Indonesia*
  64. Iran (Islamic Republic of) *
  65. Israel*
  66. Italy*
  67. Jamaica*
  68. Japan
  69. Kenya*
  70. Kiribati*
  71. Kuwait*
  72. Lao People’s Democratic Republic*
  73. Latvia*
  74. Lebanon*
  75. Libya*
  76. Liechtenstein*
  77. Lithuania*
  78. Luxembourg*
  79. Madagascar*
  80. Malaysia*
  81. Maldives**
  82. Mali*
  83. Malta*
  84. Marshall Islands*
  85. Mauritius*
  86. Mexico
  87. Micronesia (Federated States of) *
  88. Monaco*
  89. Mongolia
  90. Montenegro*
  91. Morocco*
  92. Mozambique
  93. Myanmar*
  94. Namibia*
  95. Nauru**
  96. Nepal
  97. New Zealand*
  98. Niger*
  99. Norway*
  100. Oman*
  101. Pakistan*
  102. Palau*
  103. Panama*
  104. Papua New Guinea*
  105. Paraguay*
  106. Peru*
  107. Philippines*
  108. Poland*
  109. Portugal*
  110. Republic of Korea
  111. Romania
  112. Rwanda*
  113. Saint Kitts and Nevis*
  114. Saint Lucia**
  115. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines*
  116. Samoa**
  117. San Marino*
  118. Sao Tome and Principe
  119. Senegal*
  120. Serbia*
  121. Sierra Leone*
  122. Singapore*
  123. Slovakia*
  124. Slovenia*
  125. Solomon Islands*
  126. Somalia*
  127. South Africa*
  128. South Sudan*
  129. Spain*
  130. Sri Lanka*
  131. State of Palestine*
  132. Sudan*
  133. Suriname
  134. Swaziland*
  135. Sweden*
  136. Switzerland*
  137. Tajikistan
  138. Thailand
  139. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*
  140. Timor-Leste*
  141. Togo*
  142. Tonga*
  143. Tunisia*
  144. Turkey
  145. Tuvalu**
  146. Uganda*
  147. United Arab Emirates
  148. United Kingdom*
  149. United Republic of Tanzania*
  150. United States of America*
  151. Uruguay*
  152. Vanuatu*
  153. Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) *
  154. Viet Nam*
  155. Zimbabwe*

(*) States that have indicated that they intend to sign the Paris Agreement at the Ceremony for the Opening for Signature, on 22 April 2016.

(**) States that have indicated that they intend to sign the Paris Agreement and deposit their instrument of ratification at the Ceremony for the Opening for Signature, on 22 April 2016.

No asterisk indicates that informal confirmation has been received.

1 COMMENT

  1. With the diversification of the countries energy sector to include coal, nuclear energy, continous gas flare, it is obvious Nigeria may not be able to sign the agreement even a year after April 22. Read more about our “ambitious” INDC report which boast of wide stakeholder consultation to arrive at, ironically this is the same reason given by the government for not signing the Paris agreement.

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