The federal government says it has finalised plans to introduce a carbon tax policy and financial framework for the nation in line with the recently adopted Energy Transition Plan.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari recently gave his approval to the Energy Transition Plan, which was developed by the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) in compliance with the Climate Change Act 2021, at a meeting in Abuja.
The arrangements provide that the federal government will set a price that polluters must pay for each tonne of greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition to bringing in money for the government, the tax will motivate people to change their fuel source, adopt new technology, and cut their emissions in order to avoid paying for it.
In a statement, Salisu Dahiru, the Director-General (DG) of NCCC was quoted as saying that the organization sorted and received approval to start major deliverables included in the Climate Change Act, including creating a carbon budget for the nation.
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In his words, “That is now going to provide allowances for every entity, whether government or private sector, in terms of how much emissions it may be allowed, and exceeding those emissions could also attract penalties,”. “What will be the nature of these penalties, these penalties will be contained in another deliverable that the Climate Change Act has also requested the council to do”.
Speaking further, he said, “that is to develop a framework for a carbon tax system in Nigeria. It will also look at where projects are being implemented in the country”. “These projects are capable of reducing overall carbon or greenhouse gas emissions. The harvest of these emissions reductions is typically contained in what we call an emissions reduction certificate, which can be translated into carbon credit, and then sold to potential buyers within the country and outside.”
He revealed that the Council also gave the Secretariat instructions to create a framework for carbon trading and a framework for the establishment of a climate change fund for Nigeria, adding that the funds will be used to run the council and to carry out projects that will help Nigeria meet its obligations under the nationally determined contributions and the net zero target, respectively.
Story was adapted from Business Day.
