FG tasked on carbon emission reduction in Nigeria

THE Federal Government has been urged to ensure implementation of the Paris agreement of reducing carbon emission in Nigeria.

Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Dr Godwin Uyi Ojo, made this call at an ERA’s energy transition workshop and capacity building programme in Abuja.

Ojo, said there was the need to focus on energy governance and the emerging energy transition to alternatives in renewable energy, adding that the civil society organisations (CSOs), communities, government officials and other stakeholders in the public and private sectors needed to accept and work to fast-track the reality of energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources by 2030.

He said that the Federal government should also take seriously the effort to cleanup of Ogoniland, which was flagged off almost two years ago.

He noted that since the commencement of cleanup of Ogoniland, the level of the development there was not encouraging, appealing to the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to let the people of the region feel the impact of the current All Progressives Congress (APC) led administration.

He said: “This change will not occur unless concerted effort is made toward realising such goal that will see to policy change and practice.

“The Federal Government and indeed, the levels of governance in Nigeria lack a conscientious and holistic approach to addressing the energy shortfall through alternatives in solar powered lighting systems.

“Nigeria is nowhere near meeting nationally determined commitment to addressing climate change and reducing carbon emissions because there is hardly anything on ground to address this,” he lamented.

“It is highly discouraging for Nigeria to propose over N17 billion for fossil fuels energy and procurement of generators and plants for only one single year 2017 and that money alone is enough to generate over 46 megawatt of electricity for Aso-Rock or any of the MDAs, while generating about 650 new jobs during construction and operation,” he said.

He, therefore, called on the World Bank, Africa Development Bank and other financial institutions and national governments to eliminate incentives in loans and subsidies promoting extractive activities in oil and gas prospecting.