Nigeria’s environment minister, Mohammed Abdullahi, has said that bridging the climate finance gap can only be achieved by the investment of the private sector.
Abdullahi stated this during the 2nd-anniversary lecture of NatureNews Africa and the presentation of the Hero of Environment Action for Development (HEAD) awards on Thursday in Abuja.
The minister also stated that opportunities to expand national climate finance space have been made possible through the new establishment of the climate change Act and its Council. He pointed out that the creation of the Climate Change Act and its Council enables the creation of a carbon market, which would guarantee private sector participation in climate action.
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According to the minister, who also served as the chief host of the programme, financial support is critical to building resilience and accessing international climate finance has been a task for a lot of developing countries including Nigeria.
In his words, “The current global climate finance architecture is able to operate efficiently. Nigeria took a bold step in finance climate compatibility development through collaborations within the environment ministry and other systems of government and the capital market to issue sub-Saharan Africa’s first ever-green bonds in 2017 and 2018.
“As of 2019-2020, private sector investment accounts for 23% of total climate finance committed. Bridging the Nigeria climate finance gap can only be achieved by the involvement of the private sector.”
Story was adapted from NatureNews.
