British High Commissioner to Nigeria Catriona Laing, has said the country is highly vulnerable to climate change, hence the need to transform its Nationally Determined Contributions designed to reduce impacts of climate variability into physical actions.
Laing who disclosed this through a statement issued at the weekend by the Press and Public Affairs Officer, Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office Ndidiamaka Eze, said that civil society organisations and development partners have important roles to play in the national efforts.
This is coming exactly four days after President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Climate Change Bill -which provides for the mainstreaming of climate change actions and the establishment of a National Council on Climate Change-into law. The signing of the bill into law also came exactly five days after the Climate change summit (COP26), ended in Glasgow where the Nigerian president pledged to eliminate planet-warming emissions by 2060.
Although Laing recognised deliberate actions of the Federal Government towards the global concern, she emphasised that mitigation and adaptation measures should be practically domesticated at the state and local governments. “Nigeria is highly vulnerable to climate change and although it has been ambitious in developing adaptation and mitigation plans, these plans need to be transformed into action – by the federal and state governments working closely with local communities, civil society, and other stakeholders, and with the support of development partners,” Laing was quoted in the statement as saying.
The High Commissioner, however, restated her commitment to support the nation’s energy transition efforts. As part of the measures, she advised the Nigerian government to remove high Value-Added Taxes and Custom Duties for importation of domestic solar equipment.
She said “We will continue to support Nigeria make progress on decarbonisation of the power sector and stay the course on power sector reforms, creating the enabling environment for off-grid solar at scale by, for example, removing high VAT and customs on domestic solar equipment.
Speaking further, she said “will also continue to support efforts that will see Nigeria take action to reduce greenhouse gases such as black carbon and methane from the atmosphere by ending gas flaring as well as adopting climate-smart agroforestry and agricultural reforms as sustainable solutions for Nigeria’s people, nature and biodiversity.
