Nigeria’s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has called on African governments and leaders to develop a common resolve in the fight against climate change.
Osinbajo gave the call yesterday during a meeting with the Africa Europe Foundation (AEF) themed “Earthshot 2023 Milestone” on the sidelines of the Ibrahim Governance Weekend programme, in Nairobi, Kenya.
In his address, the VP said “The Climate Positive Growth Agenda is important. “For me, the following steps are crucial. First, we need to get African governments and heads of state around this agenda and that is crucial because the Climate Positive Agenda is a win-win situation for Africa and the rest of the world,”.
Speaking further, he said, “It certainly needs a lot of fleshing out and a lot more in terms of getting African governments in particular to understand our place in it and how to take this forward.”
Making reference to Nigeria, Osinbajo said, “We may not probably be a country you think of when it comes to a green economy, but the truth is that Nigeria’s hydropower is the core of its energy resources, our Energy Transition Plan as well as renewable energy plan both emphasise great ambitions for renewable energy,”. “We are a gas-rich country, so the question is how do you make that case for Nigeria in such a way that you are able to emphasise the trade-offs and the actual benefits,”.
He maintained that it was important to emphasise that it is a win-win because instead of seeing the usual narrative of Africa being the most minor emitter and the worst sufferer.
“Here is a situation, where we are proposing an African agency. And we are saying Africa can be the solution to the net zero ambitions of the entire world,”“And how is that going to happen? It will happen because we have everything that it takes — youth population, and renewable resources in the magnitude that no one else has,”.
Story was adapted from Thisday.
