President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria generated over N30 billion by issuing two sovereign green bonds to fund its efforts to adapt to climate change.
It is “expected to break the shackles of problems in receiving funding from industrialized countries’ financial institutions,” he said, pushing the most vulnerable nations to imitate Nigeria’s domestic resource mobilization.
Buhari participated in a roundtable discussion on Tuesday at the UN Conference on LDCs in Doha, Qatar, that addressed climate change and environmental protection, according to a statement sent by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
President Buhari advises LDCs to imitate Nigeria’s green bonds in order to finance climate change.
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The President who was represented by the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, said, ‘‘Domestic resource mobilization is likely to break the yoke of difficulties in accessing funds from developed countries’ financial institutions, like Nigeria’s issuance of two Sovereign Green Bonds that raised over N30bn.
‘‘LDCs and developing countries must take a serious stand on the Cummings-Montreal resolutions on a new funding mechanism that is flexible, accessible and utilizable.”
He assured that Nigeria would use its position as host of the headquarters of the Sahel Climate Fund to ensure that members accessed climate finance at fairer and reasonable conditions.
The President described climate change as no respecter of any nation and warned that it posed an imminent danger to human existence and also environmental preservation.
LDCs and developing countries were vulnerable to climatic changes triggered by dwindling rainfall patterns, extreme temperatures, desertification, drought, and coastal erosion, he noted.
Buhari added that ‘‘Nigeria, like other countries of the world, particularly those of the Sahel region has a lot of human activities that dangerously interfere with the earth’s natural defenses against solar radiation and temperature change.
‘‘In Africa, the diverse impact of climate change is an underlying cause of human population stressors, with conflicts resulting in regional instability.”
The President acquainted the international community with Nigeria’s priorities on climate change.
He said the country had passed a novel climate change Act, essentially focusing on a government approach jointly with the private sector.
Story adapted from Punch
