Nigeria yet to draw from $2.25bn green climate fund

Nigeria is among the five member-states of ECOWAS yet to tap from the $2.25 billion internationally backed environmental programme: the Green Climate Fund (GCF), according to investigation.

Established in 2010 with a mandate to limit greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries, the GCF is to be funded periodically by the contributions from US and EU.

The fund, to be monitored by the United Nations Environment Assessment unit, was aimed at assisting developing world support the world green house programme, for fighting climate abuses through desertification, industrial emissions and dumping of industrial wastes from the developed world.

Countries can only access the funds through their regional bodies, of which ECOWAS represents the sub Saharan African region through which Nigeria and other 13 countries are to apply for it.

But it was revealed, after the climate change experts and senior officials charged with the subject matter across the region rose from a special meeting in Abuja, recently, that some countries were yet to meet the condition for the fund.

In a 10-page report, just released, the delegates as well as experts from the GCF board recommended among others, that capacity building on climate change should involve other developmental sectors such as Agriculture, Energy and Industry formember countries to qualify.

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It was gathered that only Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal had met the condition for the release of the fund, having identified their committeemen in fighting deforestation, encouraging use of friendly energy sources for both demos tic and industrial use.

Nigeria is among the countries that either not applied or were yet to meet the laid down condition for accessing the funds, which includes identifying commitment in checking climate abuses and promoting safe environment.

However, an official of the ministry of Environment said Mrs. Amina J. Mohhamed had been collaborating with relevant agencies to promote the country’s committeemen in having a safer environment.

“It is not true that Nigeria is reluctant to apply for the funds, in fact, we are the first set of countries to host a special conference on environment for the ECOWAS member-countries where matters concerning the fund were fully deliberated,” the official maintained.

A special commission set up to advise more countries on how to utilize the funds when approved said the commission is set up primarily to promote and enhance knowledge exchange between the member states through activities such as bilateral country missions and group networking.

In addition, it was agreed that ECOWAS should encourage countries to balance their pipeline of projects to include both adaptation and mitigation projects in order to create a healthier environment for the citizens of West Africa.

Bringing the workshop to a close, the representative of the GCF Mr. Kaloga Oumar Alpha restated the commitment of the GCF to the region stressing that the recommendations put forward will be communicated to the right quarters. On his part, the head of environmental Policies and Regulations

By Emma Eke….

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