The European Union, through UNEP’s International Methane Emissions Observatory, is building the capacity of climate sector stakeholders and negotiators to address methane emissions in Nigeria.
Ms Marci Paranski, Programme Manager Officer, UNEP International Methane Emissions Observatory, made this known at the opening ceremony and news conference of a three-day capacity-building workshop on the potent greenhouse gas, methane, for the Nigerian oil and gas sector.
The Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) organized the inaugural workshop, which is part of the Nigeria Methane Emissions Reduction Pilot Programme (NiMERP).
The EU delegation to Nigeria funded the project, which was implemented by UNEP’s International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) in collaboration with the Nigerian government and led by the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC).
According to Paranski, the workshop marks the kick-off activities in Nigeria for the Nigeria Emissions Reduction and Nigeria Methane Emissions Reduction Pilot Program.
“It is the first of its kind in Africa with the goals of establishing a national baseline for methane in the country, meaning understanding the contributions of the oil and gas sector, agriculture and waste to national methane emissions over one year.
“So we will be working with various scientific partners in and outside Nigeria to scope this scientific study, and then we are doing multiple capacity-building activities, including this oil and gas training workshop today.
“We are working with partners at the NCCC, the EUD, SDN, and Carbon Limits to provide these training and other capacity-building activities working with civil servants, the private sector, and early career scientists.
“This is just the first of several activities that are planned in this project, which overall spans about three years,” she said
Baranski said the project would examine three core areas: oil and gas, agriculture, and waste, and then scale up to other sectors.
Dr Nkiruka Maduekwe, Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), said that methane is a colourless and odourless flammable gas. It is a short-lived pollutant in the air found in waste, agriculture, and the oil and gas sectors.
Maduekwe, also the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Change, said the idea behind Nigeria’s methane reduction was based on the country’s 2021 Naturally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which made it the first country in Africa to pledge to reduce methane.
“Moving in that stride, in 2023, the government developed the guidelines on methane and gas flaring methane prevention regulation to ensure that we regulate this sector and reduce methane in what we do.
“One of the things about methane is that it is short-lived, but it is hazardous, and that is the challenge with methane. One of the things we now call it is that it is a super pollutant.
“That is why the NCCC Secretariat is also supported by the European Union delegation and UNEP to drive this capacity-building program.
“This is necessary because if you do not develop the capacity for people to understand what needs to be done, then we will not be able to implement the research results, which is why we need to build capacity.”
Maduekwe said capacity building would help identify the needed infrastructure, implement existing regulations and guidelines, and use UNEP’s output.
She said this is crucial because although methane is short-lived, it is hazardous, so Nigeria has committed to reducing it by 2030.
She said Nigeria is currently reviewing its NDC, and the outcome will provide an understanding of what has been done so far to reduce methane.
“As part of reviewing the NDC, we have mapped out a six geopolitical zone stakeholder engagement and in our acts to the development partners who would support us in reviewing our NDC.
“We are currently training negotiators from all the 36 states of Nigeria, and one of the things we are mainstreaming is the NDCs.”
Maduekwe said that NCCC was working with some local scientists and discussing ways to cascade the training down to the grassroots, create awareness of methane, and educate Nigerians about it.
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