Mohammad Abubakar, Nigeria’s minister of environment will lead the country’s delegation to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26 holding in Glasgow, Scotland from October 31 to November 12. Ahead of this global event, the Nigerian government, like other countries have made commitments towards reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and has also increased its conditional contribution.
In June, the Nigerian government submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (referred to as the UNFCCC or the Convention), its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) which are national commitments. The UNFCCC provides the foundation for multilateral action to combat climate change and its impacts on humanity and ecosystems.
Under Nigeria’s updated NDC, it committed to an unconditional contribution of 20 percent below business-as-usual by 2030 and a 47 percent contribution conditional on international support. A 47 percent conditional contribution of around 100 million tonnes CO2-equivalent (MtCO2e) below current (2018) levels – is consistent with a global 1.5oC pathway.
The government said that committing to this level of climate ambition in the face of lower-than-expected economic growth represents a significant enhancement, as it will result in substantially lower absolute GHG emissions than stated in the 2015 NDC. The country has updated the base year for the GHG assessment from 2010 to 2018. The total emissions of greenhouse gases estimated between 2010 and 2018 range between 247 million tonnes CO2-equivalent (MtCO2e) emissions in 2010 and 347 MtCO2e in 2018.
Economic sectors emission index
The energy sector was the largest source of GHG emissions with 209 MtCO2e emitted in 2018 (60 percent of total emissions). Fugitive emissions from oil and gas are the largest contributor to overall energy sector emissions (36 percent of total energy sector emissions in 2018), followed by transport, electricity generation (grid and off-grid), and residential and industrial energy consumption. Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) is the second-largest contributor to total GHG emissions, contributing approximately 25 percent of national GHG emissions in 2018, followed by waste (9 percent), and Industrial Processes and Other Product Use (IPPU) (5 percent).
Nigeria recommits to its unconditional contribution of 20 percent below business-as-usual by 2030 and increases its conditional contribution from 45 percent to 47 percent below business-as-usual by 2030, provided that sufficient international support is forthcoming.
Africa’s biggest economy also commits to mainstreaming gender across all sectors and last year approved the National Action Plan on Gender and Climate. With support from UNDP, GIZ, IRENA, the Islamic Development Bank and other development partners, Nigeria is implementing enhancement programmes as part of the NDC update.
Some of the programmes updated analysis of mitigation in the electricity sector, assessment of the scope for increasing access to off-grid clean electricity, revised data and emissions projections for the forestry sector and an analysis of emissions reductions from refrigerant gases (HFCs) and alignment with Nigeria’s obligations under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.
Others are analysis of nature-based solutions for those sectors with significant adaptation and mitigation co-benefits, assessment of green jobs in Nigeria, a review of circular economy and waste management and a review of clean cooking solutions in Nigeria.
Read more at: https://businessday.ng/news/article/nigeria-has-made-these-commitments-ahead-of-cop26/
