Climate Change: Agora Policy, W/Bank, Others Urge Coordinated Action

Agora Policy, the World Bank, the MacArthur Foundation and various stakeholders have called upon the federal and state governments to implement a comprehensive and coordinated strategy to address the escalating challenges posed by climate change. Organised as part of the preparation for COP28, the event aims to contribute to raising the status and the depth of climate change discussion and action in Nigeria.  

Emphasising the urgency of collective action, the consortium stressed the need for strategic policies to mitigate the impacts of climate change in Nigeria. The recommendations were articulated during a high-profile session where Agora Policy and World Bank representatives, along with other influential entities, underscored the importance of a united front in tackling the environmental threats that loom over the nation.

In his remarks at the policy conversation on “Nigeria, Climate Change and the Green Economy,” yesterday, the founder of Agora Policy, Mr Waziri Adio said “The burdens of shifts in climatic conditions are already our portion. They are all around us,” adding that climate change is already exerting “a big toll on the things we consider critical and urgent. It is already here and now, not a matter of hereafter. It is not what we can simply wish away by faith.”

Nigeria is experiencing a rise in temperature, irregular rain patterns, near perennial flooding across the country, increasing threats of desertification and gully erosion, negative impacts on food production, food security and food inflation, and on water, health and productivity, energy and infrastructure, and widespread conflicts on account of vanishing natural resources.

World Bank country director for Nigeria Shubham Chaudhuri said climate change is already making life more difficult for Nigerians. He said the focus should be on how to reduce emissions further, to begin with.  He said the challenge is how to promote development in Nigeria which he said can only happen with electricity access and energy. “There is no way Nigeria can achieve the potentials it has and the people realise the dreams and opportunities the people aspire to without raising access to energy. There needs to be some coordinated actions. Right now I see a lot of papers. We don’t need any more policy documents. We don’t need any more plans, commitments, etc for Nigeria,” Chaudhuri stated.

The managing director of Sterling Bank, Mr Abubakar Suleiman said the government has to incentivize climate change financing to attract private sector funding into green energy with a focus on closing the nation’s energy deficit.

“Make sure that through policies, taxation tariffs, you create a system that makes green energy a more viable option or at least a competitive option or alternative. If we do that we won’t have to beg the financial institutions to fund it,” he said, adding that his bank finances climate change because it makes economic sense.

Professor Emmanuel Oladipo who was one of the panellists at the event said Nigeria needs to have a properly designed policy intervention to effectively respond to the pressures and impacts of climate change. He urged the authorities to use the nation’s oil and energy resources to grow the economy without allowing it to blow development away.

A report on climate change and socio-economic development in Nigeria that was presented by the Agora Policy recommended that Nigeria synergise and align its various policies and declarations on climate change with its national needs. Emphasis should be focused on the country’s macro and micro-level efforts on solid mitigation and adaptation policies, with a strong governance structure and a reliable and expanding energy mix to ensure an investor-friendly environment.

The report urged the authorities to deepen institutional capacity for climate action and the legal framework; ensure adequate climate funding; ensure a just and fair energy transition; increase the level of public awareness of climate change and drive a collaborative approach to a low-carbon development future.