Accelerating Nigeria’s Climate and Just Transition: A Range of Challenges and Opportunities
Accelerating the Nigeria’s Climate and its just transitioning into clean and green energy is one that will prove immensely helpful in bridging social disparity and environmental poverty for the urban poor. — Abimbola Abikoye
The third quarter of 2022, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in partnership with International Climate Change Development Initiative held a two-day event themed, Accelerating Nigeria’s Climate and Just Transition: A Range of Challenges and Opportunities. Present as took place with some member associations present such as Revamp Rave Network, MushinToTheWorld and other NGOs, government officials from the Ministry of Environment and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, policymakers, Local Government Officials and reporters.
The objectives of the event was to create awareness via a two day training program about the challenges and opportunities in Climate Change and the just transitioning of the Energy Sector; Food Systems; and other crosscutting issues such as Gender, Youth, and Social Protection; and Integrating just transition into policies and its processes.
On day one of the event, Chinma George one of the facilitator for the event spoke on “Climate Change, The Energy Sector, and Just Transition.” She mentioned that as countries move from fossil fuels, jobs are affected, it adversely affects electricity and prices of commodities. In 2012, 16 billion dollars was lost in Nigeria, as a result of the non-functioning of some sectors, such as oil and gas. Thus, “Just Transition” was created to change and control the types of jobs that causes pollution, and damage health of workers.
She mentioned that the world has moved to the use of solar panels as a source of electricity. However, what would happen to the solar panels after they have been used up? What happens to the parts that cannot be re-used? Therefore, the question is, “how can we destroy hazardous waste in Nigeria?. The government is making efforts to drive all sectors through gas. How do we plan to store excess gas flares? An existing technology is carbon capture. Another is a re-injection process, used in the oil and gas sector. There is a need to discover the positive impacts of gas flaring, especially towards renewable energy.
The Nigerian climate change bill has been passed, she said, to cut across all ministries in Nigeria, and not just the Ministry of Environment. This is an effort to achieve the Net Zero by 2050 proposed during the COP26 in Glasgow. However, the Nigerian government has reviewed this to a Net Zero by 2060 proposal.
It is no news that Africa contributes only 4% of the global carbon emissions, which is much less than that of the developing countries. But there’s still a need to just transition, because other intentional countries do not want to buy oil and gas any longer (which is Nigeria’s major export), but are rather moving to electric systems to move to a more technological advanced world.
The next speaker Sulaimon Arigbagbu, Executive Secretary, HEDA Resource Center, took over his session where he discussed the topic “Climate Change and Just Transition In Food Systems.” He said that Africa is the least responsible in managing food systems, as it lacks the capability to deal with and recover from the effects of climate change. Africa is not a partaker on the benefits of climate change, due to the lack of technology and has become a dumping ground for failed climate change technologies.
He also mentioned that if the government do not have sustainability on their climate change projects, it discourages citizens. Most times. Africa has become a continent that goes along with proposed campaigns, instead of truly understanding how it affects us in Africa, and Nigeria. Therefore, prices for our raw materials are determined for Africans during trade, but we do not determine the price of finished products imported into the country. A sad reality we must endeavour that must be put to an end.
On the 20th of April 2022, the first speaker for the session, Lateefah Musah; Programme Director, Partners For Peace spoke on “Climate Change and Cross-cutting Aspects of Just Transition (Gender, Youth and Social Protection)”. She discussed broadly how Just Transition affects both genders, especially in the Niger Delta, with the gas flaring issues and vandalisms on a daily basis. During her session, she asked two questions, “What have you done to support climate change?” and “How can you contribute to Just Transition?” Answers were taken randomly at the end of the session.
Next in line was Titi Akosa, Executive Director, Centre for 21st Century. She discussed the topic, “Integrating Just Transition into Policies and Processes, NDCs, SDGs and National Climate Policies and Processes.” She highlighted some sectoral policies in Nigeria that can help to shape Just Transition, such as Vision 2020; NDC 2021; Agriculture, Forest and other Land Use; Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Action Plan; Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan 2014; Gender and Climate Action Plan; Gender and Agric Policy; National Agriculture Policy to mention a few.
She noted that achieving the just transitioning the following SDGs: Goals 1 (No Poverty), 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 13 (Climate Action) must be achieve to really actualise the goal of the subject matter.
We have to discuss Just Transition globally, and think locally, as it relates to us in Africa, and especially Nigeria.
