He also urged the most vulnerable countries to emulate Nigeria’s homegrown resource mobilisation saying that it is “likely to break the yoke of difficulties in accessing funds from developed countries’ financial institutions.”
According to a statement signed by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari made this point when he spoke at a roundtable addressing climate change and supporting the environment at the UN Conference on LDCs in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday.
The statement is titled ‘Climate Financing: emulate Nigeria green bonds, President Buhari tells LDCs.’
The President who was represented by the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, argued that ‘‘Domestic resource mobilisation is likely to break the yoke of difficulties in accessing funds from developed countries’ financial institutions, like Nigeria’s issuance of two Sovereign Green Bonds that raised over N30billion.
‘‘LDCs and Developing Countries must take a serious stand on the Cummings-Montreal resolutions on a new funding mechanism that is flexible, accessible and utilizable.”
He pledged that Nigeria would use its position as host of the headquarters of the Sahel Climate Fund to ensure that members access climate finance at fairer and reasonable conditions.
The President described climate change as “no respecter of any nation,” warning that it poses an imminent danger to human existence and also environmental preservation.
LDCs and developing countries are vulnerable to climatic changes triggered by dwindling rainfall patterns, extreme temperatures, desertification, drought and coastal erosion, he noted.
Going specific, Buhari said ‘‘Nigeria, like other countries of the world, particularly those of the Sahel region has a lot of human activities that dangerously interfere with the earth’s natural defenses against solar radiation and temperature change.
‘‘In Africa, the diverse impact of climate change is an underlying cause of human population stressors, with conflicts resulting in regional instability.”
As is his custom, the President acquainted the international community with Nigeria’s priorities on climate change.
He said the country had passed a novel Climate Change Act, essentially focusing on the whole Government approach jointly with the private sector.
The Act, he explained, established the National Council on Climate change to, among others, mainstream climate change actions in Nigeria’s economic development and ensure sustainable inclusive green growth.
According to Buhari ‘‘Nigeria is providing leadership to the Pan African Great Green Wall that is focused on land remediation, wetlands, and oases recovery, as well as developing a community resilience programme to support the Sahel region towards adaptation and mitigation of these climatic vulnerabilities.
‘‘Furthermore, the country just recently, as a member of the Sahel Region Climate Commission, volunteered and was granted the rights to host the headquarters of the Sahel Climate Fund.”
