COP27: Nigeria endorses white paper on climate change concerns

The Federal Government has endorsed a white paper on the global climate change concerns and Nigeria’s interests to be presented at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt.

This is contained in a statement signed by the PUTTRU Founder, Mrs Monica Maduekwe, made available to newsmen on Thursday in Lagos.

NewsClick Nigeria reports that PUTTRU is a business facilitation online platform that connects African energy companies to financiers from all over the world.

The white paper, led by PUTTRU is a collaborative efforts with the Federal Ministry of Environment, Power, Trade and Investment, Energy Commission of Nigeria and the Office of the Deputy President of the Senate.

It said the objective of the white paper is to inform the international community and Nigeria’s trade partners on how the country’s national concerns on trade, energy and climate change can be harmonised with global concerns in a manner that ensures that Nigeria’s interests are seen as global interests.

“The white paper asserts that given Nigeria’s large and growing population, achieving this balance between trade, energy and climate change is a matter of national, continental and global concern,” said the statement.

The statement quoted the Minister of Environment, Mr Mohammed Abdullahi, as saying that the white paper explores the different nexus between trade and climate change.

Abdullahi said that the white paper focused on how future trade opportunities would be affected by climate change and policy response.

“This will guide stakeholders in discussions on how trade provides the goods and services that can drive mitigation and adaptation, and the new opportunities for promoting trade diversification in the transition to a low-carbon world” Abdullahi said.

The Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, according to the statement, urged the global community to adopt the position of the white paper.

“Our ministry strongly calls on all stakeholders, investors and global climate change and energy experts to study the white paper for better understanding of the conditions necessary to achieve transformational economic development for our country and meet her climate obligations,” Aliyu said.

Also the Minister of Trade and Investments, Mr Richard Adebayo, in his forward commended the white paper and called for its adoption.

“I commend the production of this white paper, which combines three of the most pressing concerns for not just our country or continent but for the entire world.

The Technical Working Group, made up of public and private sector representatives and the academia, have provided sound recommendations that harmonise both Nigerian and global perspectives on these topical issues.” Adebayo said.

The Founder of PUTTRU, Maduekwe said that the white paper calls for Nigeria’s international trade partners to act now.

She stressed the need for planned and targeted investments to go into strategic projects in the next five to seven years.

According to her, this is to avoid investing in infrastructure that are energy-intensive in the near-term, since doing so will result in path dependencies that will delay the emergence of a carbon-neutral Nigeria.

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP27, will take place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, from November 6 to November 18 and NewsClick Nigeria has been accredited as delegate, a feat running for the second consecutive year.

It is a meeting of governments that have signed onto the world’s major climate change agreements.