The President of the Association of Environmental Protection and Climate Change Experts, Air Vice Marshal Akugbe Iyamu, says Nigeria must be honest in its climate change efforts to be eligible for climate financing.
In a recent interview, Iyamu stated that while rich nations need to contribute funding for developing nations like Nigeria to combat climate change, the process must be transparent.
He stated that Nigeria’s yearly flooding issues, which have the potential to cause an economic slump, needed to be addressed. He gave the floods in Kogi state in 2022 as an example, which created a number of issues and had an adverse economic impact.
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He said:“The climate funds are there, but we need to access them. The international management of climate financing has always had three pillars – adaptation, mitigation, and the means of administering those funds.
Also speaking on Nigeria’s capacity to reduce carbon emissions and gain access to climate financing through renewable energy investments and mitigation, Iyamu said there are other factors the country needs to exhibit to show readiness for implementation of projects that tackle climate change in the country.
He said:“Nigeria has two out of the seven longest rivers in Africa, we have 854 shorelines, and we have the biggest mangrove – these are sellable environmental products, but we must also continue to increase infrastructure and develop skills. For the climate environment, countries are moving from the mundane to the substantial and from commission to ministries of climate change and Nigeria cannot be left behind.”
Story adapted from Nairametrics
