The Federal Government said on Friday, August 4, 2023, in Abuja that it would fully explore carbon pricing in the efforts to mitigate climate change challenges in the country.
Mr Salisu Dahiru, Director-General (D-G), National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), said that carbon pricing would address the nation’s climate challenges.
Carbon pricing curbs greenhouse gas emissions by placing a fee on emitting and/or offering an incentive for emitting less.
“As far as Nigeria is concerned, the carbon trading scheme is an aspect of our national policy.
“Carbon pricing is one of the foundational works that is needed to be done in order to prepare Nigeria to participate in the emissions trading scheme for which the process has begun,” the Dahiru stated.
Dahiru said the processes and understanding of carbon pricing would meet Nigeria’s input.
“We will ensure that every opportunity for harvesting emission reduction certificates from on-going activities in Nigeria is linked to our NCCC.
“Carbon trading is not going to be limited only to the NCCC but to all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) or sectors that are interested in pursuing projects that can end carbon credit,” he said.
He expressed optimism that the workshop would facilitate one of the robust carbon trading systems in Africa and lay the foundation for stakeholders in Nigeria working towards achieving the target.
“We are very familiar with the flooding in 2022. We are see signs of the flooding, especially with the recent one at Lugbe which tends to highlight that nobody can escape the impact of climate change.
“It calls for conceited and collective efforts to ensure that Nigeria is fully positioned to take advantage of the opportunities in climate change and adaptation.
“It is not only for us but for the government to invest in private sector to see what is in carbon trading,” Dahiru said.
The Director-General of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW), Dr Yusuf Maina-Bukar, said that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently signed by the agency would accelerate Nigeria’s Tree Planting Campaign to mitigate climate change.
The MoU, signed on April 14, 2023, involves NAGGW, GROASIS B.V. of Netherlands and Boplas Industries for the production of waterboxx in Nigeria.
He said that the MoU would boost economic activities, create thousands of new jobs, and ultimately reposition the agency to achieve its mandate of transforming the GGW belt into an economic hub.
Maina-Bukar said that the MoU has the potential to expand the initiative to other African countries.
“Nigeria is the first Pan-African Agency among the Great Green Wall member countries to adopt the innovation as a policy.
“The country continues to lead the Pan-African Agency for the Great Green Wall and its agenda in Africa.
“The Groasis waterboxx is an innovation adopted to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Great Green Wall tree planting activities in the 11 frontline areas of the Agency.”
According to him, the waterboxx is an ecological water-saving technology that has proved its effectiveness in enhancing tree survival and increasing growth speed.
He said it also reduces the quantity of water being used to plant millions of trees in 55 countries around the world.
“Adoption of the waterboxx innovation by the NAGGW management shows the agency’s seriousness in reforming the process of planting through new innovations, technologies, and strategies that will ensure sustainability and competitiveness.
“The Groasis waterboxx technology is an advanced irrigation method that will enhance the survival rate of seedlings and trees in Sahel and Sahara dry land areas by 90 per cent.
“It aims to accelerate and provide more sustainable agriculture in the NAGGW tree planting campaigns by reducing carbon footprints released in the environment,” Maina-Bukar said.
By Abigael Joshua
