- As FG rolls out measures on net zero emission by 2060
By Seun Adams
The Federal Government has assured that the total implementation of all the measures toward the attainment of net zero emission by 2060 referred to as (Nigeria’s top 11) as released in its latest report will fast-track the achievement of that ambitious target geared towards clean energy.
Authoritative source stated that the European Climate Foundation (ECF), has shown interest in funding the measures to achieve the ambitious target, however, the top 10 measures were later developed into 11 measures after critical examination by experts.
This is as pledged by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Glasgow COP26, in 2021.
In unveiling the release by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Environment, which it termed: top 11 net zero and economic development measures, said Nigeria has also launched a long-term vision for 2050, which is expected to inform the development of its long-term low emission development strategy.
Recall that at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), President Buhari, expressed Nigeria’s determination and commitment to achieving net zero by 2060.
This he added would be in line with the Climate Change Act and Nigeria’s energy transition plan, released in August 2022 was developed to serve as the pathway toward achieving the 2060 net zero target.
Riding on the shoulder of that announcement at COP26, the Society for planet and Prosperity (SPP) a non-partisan organization devoted to sustainable policy research under the leadership of the internationally recognized scholar, Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke on the 28th of July 2022 launched the project “Nigeria: Top 10 Net zero Measures.”
The European Climate Foundation (ECF), has shown interest in funding the measures to achieve the ambitious target, however, the top 10 measures were later developed into 11 measures after critical examination by experts.
The main aim of the project was to map 11 key steps and decisions that if taken in the next 5 years will underpin a socio-economic transformation required to enable Nigeria to meet the government’s 2060 net zero target.
The project was also aimed at presenting these steps and decisions in a format that is accessible to a wider public through communication materials that can stimulate and inform a wider public debate, involving civil societies and policymakers.
In selecting the top 11 measures, the Society for planet and prosperity engaged with senior experts from the government, the private sector, trade unions, civil society organisations, academia and think tanks, the media, and international development partners.
They were invited to discuss and assess the benefits of successful implementation of each measure against 4 criteria, which are deemed to fairly represent the breadth of the development challenges facing the country: 1. Economic diversification, (youth) job creation, and poverty reduction, 2. Security, social safeguards, and gender equality, 3. Food security, public and environmental health, and, 4. Sustainable and affordable power and transport and over 35 measures that reflect the priority sectors in Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) were collected across seven Economic sectors of Power, Agriculture and Forestry, Waste, Oil and gas, Industry and Housing, Transport, and Water.
According to the report, prioritized measures that if implemented jointly over the next 5 years would significantly positively impact the ability of Nigeria to embark on a low-emission development pathway to a net-zero emission future are: (1) A strong focus on generating renewable electricity both on and off-grid (minimum of 30% of on-grid electricity from renewables), (2) Elimination of diesel and gasoline generators for electricity generation by 2030.
(3) Plant 300 million trees [this decade] and promote agro-forestry, reforestation and afforestation, including community-based forest management and recovery. (4) End (associated) gas flaring by 2030 (5) Reduce wood cooking from the current 72% of the population to 20% of the population by 2030 / introducing clean cooking into 30 million households (6) Embark on the construction of 300,000 green homes in the next 12 months and 1.5 million over the next 5 years (7) A modal shift in transport by realizing a shift of passengers to Bus Rapid Transport (BRT); backed up by enforcement of emissions standards in vehicles. (8) End landfilling of untreated waste and transit into properly designed and managed landfills with state-of-the-art gas collection (9) Increase the amount of irrigated land (ha) using renewable energy for pumping from 24.35% to 100% (and associated increase use of off-grid power in communities) (10) Consistent economy-wide Energy Efficiency improvements (-50% from 2015 baseline) Examples are reducing electricity transmission losses and replacing 4 million incandescent bulbs with Tubular Fluorescent Lamps (TFLs) or Light-emitting Diode (LEDs), equipment standards. (11) Landscape-scale restoration and recharging of the Lake Chad basin.
A rough calculation indicates that the eleven measures could result in an emission reduction of about 174.01 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent by 2030 similar to the fossil emission of Algeria or Iraq in 2021.
Therefore, it is very important to note that the total implementation of all the measures in this report will facilitate the achievement of Net zero by 2060 as pronounced by Mr. President at COP26.
The full report can be downloaded from the Society for Planet and Prosperity website via https://sppnigeria.org/nigerias-top-10-net-zero-and-economic-development-measures/
