Nigeria reaps over $5bn in climate action commitments at COP28

Business a.m

The Nigerian government has announced that it has secured over $5 billion in commitments from international partners to support the country’s climate action. The announcement was made at the ongoing 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) on climate change, taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Salisu Dahiru, the director-general of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), revealed the details of the commitments at an event to mark the Nigeria Day at the COP28 climate conference. He stated that the U.S. Government is providing a total of $5 billion to support Nigeria’s climate action, with $3 billion earmarked for the recapitalization of the Green Climate Fund and the remaining $2 billion for the adaptation fund. The Green Climate Fund is a global fund dedicated to helping developing countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. 

Dahiru also noted that Nigeria has secured an additional $560 million for loss and damage, a fund established to compensate countries for climate-induced disasters. This fund was created to help countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change to recover from and prepare for climate-related disasters.

According to the NCCC DG, Nigeria has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with Siemens of Germany and Infracorp to produce solar panels in Nigeria. This, he said, would create jobs for Nigerians and reduce capital flight. 

“We are proud to announce that on the first day of COP28, Nigeria’s long term loan initiative strategy was actually launched and we are depositing with the UNFCCC in fulfillment of the requirement under the Paris Agreement,” he said. 

Dahiru further explained that the Nigerian government has taken an internal stocktake of the country’s climate situation to get a complete and comprehensive understanding of the state of climate change action in the country. The stocktake, he explained, will help to agree on the best ways to collectively work towards achieving the goals of climate change action and delivering results on the ground.  He added that the stocktake is expected to result in a climate action plan for the country, which will be used to guide efforts to address climate change.