Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has constituted an adhoc committee to harmonise Nigeria’s agenda at the forthcoming 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) schedule to hold in the United Arab Emirates.
Mr Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications, Office of the Vice President, made this known in a statement on Friday, November 10, 2023, in Abuja.
The upcoming conference will be the 28th United Nations Climate Change conference holding from 30 Nov. until 12 Dec., at the Expo City, Dubai.
Shettima, while interacting with stakeholders and members of the committee, urged them to come up with a roadmap that would enable Nigeria benefit maximally from its participation at the conference.
“We need to be proactive and see to it that we go to the conference prepared and sure of what we want to get.
“It will not be a joke, we need to come back with some tangibles, so we can tell the Nigerian people that these are the benefits we got from our participation at COP28.”
Responding to a presentation for Nigeria to sign on to the Battery Energy Storage Systems at the forthcoming COP28, Shettima said the proposal was a commendable initiative.
“It offers green field opportunity for our nascent energy sector to adopt green, affordable and accessible energy for our people.
“Our energy needs are huge but they also provide us with a vista of opportunities to transform the entire sector for the benefit of our economy and wellbeing of the people.”
He said he looked forward to the technical assistance and funding opportunities, among others, that would come to Nigeria with the signing on to the Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) consortium.
The committee which is chaired by the Minister of Environment, Mr Balarabe Lawal, has the Minister of Power, Dr Adebayo Adelabu, as member.
Others include the Special Adviser to the President on Climate Change, Special Adviser to the President on Power Infrastructure, and the Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change.
Earlier, the representative of the Global Energy Alliance Partnership (GEAP), Mr Mohammed Wakeel, said he was in the country to support government in the energy sector.
He said the BESS Consortium would provide a technology to enhance the quality and quantum of power available in the country.
According to him, with the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
with the consortium.
“Nigeria will be able to collaborate with other institutions such as the GEAP, Africa Development Bank and other stakeholders to transform the country’s energy sector.”
The conference which is held annually since the first UN climate agreement in 1992, offers various governments the opportunity to discuss and agree on policies to limit global temperature and adapt to impacts associated with climate change.
By Salisu Sani-Idris
