The initiative, which was announced during the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties in Madrid, Spain, also aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030.
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In a bid to reduce the effects of climate change in Nigeria and indeed the entire African continent, the Federal Ministry of Environment and other government agencies have partnered with Eko Carbon Exchange to achieve the target.
The initiative, which was announced during the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties in Madrid, Spain, also aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030.
The UN Conference in Spain attracted African and international experts and sustainability actors including from Nigeria, who all discussed how to protect the continent from the harsh effects of climate change.
Managing Director of Eko Carbon Exchange, Mr Innocent Azih, disclosed that the initiative, being the first in West Africa, was mobilising to harness the opportunities in low-carbon development across all economic sectors in Nigeria, starting with solid waste and transport sectors.
He said this will also serve as a regional vehicle for mobilising finance for low-carbon economic development for West African economies through the Clean Development Mechanism.
Azih stated, “The objective is to mobilise the necessary resource pool and low-carbon finance required for greening all economic sectors.”
Head of Climate Change Mitigation in the Ministry of Environment, Hajia Aisha Jibril, revealed the readiness of the ministry to work with the Exchange to enable Nigeria achieve the nationally determined contributions through projects implementation that are fully mainstreamed.
She described efforts made by the ministry to include policy incentives, education and awareness of actors through climate change desks at state levels, to development of the Nigerian carbon emission registry.
She urged stakeholders to follow Eko Carbon Exchange’s lead and partner with the ministry to ensure early realisation of the registry.
Also speaking at the UN meeting, Chief Executive Officer of Natural Eco Capital, Dr Eugene Itua, in his submission noted that tremendous emission reduction programmes have been on in Lagos State through the replacement of outdated mass transport vehicles with more modern and energy-efficient buses.
Stakeholders noted that finance remained a major challenge to scaling green investments but suggested that the best approach was non-monetary strategy in which financing packages for low-carbon consumption comes with credit and insurance.