Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Dr. Mahmood Mohammad Abubakar, has called on nations across the globe to give the climate change phenomenon the attention it deserves, stressing that it is a threat to world peace and development.
Speaking on Monday, December 9, 2019 during a side-event organised by the Islamic Development Bank on “Climate Finance” at the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) holding at Madrid, Spain, the Minister stated: “Every single nation, either in the middle of the ocean, at the edge of the desert or in the middle of it, needs to do something about climate adaptation, mitigation, resilient and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in addressing climate change.
“There are common denominators in the climate change issue that every country across the globe must do something about, and Nigeria is not an exemption. We have been very active in the climate change adaption and we will continue to progress in this regard to contribute to global efforts at ameliorating climate change being the biggest threat to the planet at the moment.”
The Minister emphasised the commitment of the Federal Government of Nigeria led by President Muhammadu Buhari effort at realising Nigeria’s Nationally Determine Contributions (NDCs), stating that a lot has been done and much more would be done.
Bemoaning the actions of developed countries regarding climate financing, Dr Abubakar called on developed countries to fulfil their commitment on climate funding particularly to African countries.
He said, “I share the sentiments of other African countries of not getting enough of climate funds. We are calling on the developed countries who are also the major pollutants to fulfil their promises of providing more climate funds to the developing nations.”
He expressed optimism that Nigerian delegates to COP25 would negotiate to get as much as possible of the climate funds as they can bargain for, while at the same time be innovative to generate its own green funds, noting that climate financing is a cooperation for global survival.
“We will aim as high as we can. This is something a lot of countries are aiming at. It is a global cooperation for survival because we belong to one planet. Whatever happens in Nigeria can affect America, and vice-visa.
“We will do whatever it takes in our own capacity to see that we acquire as much as we can while at the same time be as innovative as we can to generate our own green fund internally,” the Minister emphasised.
