Nigeria committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 pct by 2030

Nigeria is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2030, Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Jibril said Monday.

The Nigerian official stated this at the Climate Change Knowledge Immersion Workshop (KIW) in southwest city of Abeokuta in Ogun State.

He added that the government was also set to implement the National Determined Contributions (NDCs) roadmaps aimed at reducing average global carbon emissions to two degree celsius.

"In achieving this, we must take proper steps to educate and engage our people as well as develop and nurture collaborations and partnership among us," he added.

"To deliver on our NDCs pledges, there is need to have an appropriate institutional arrangement that will mainstream climate change into its development strategies," the minister said.

Much progress had been made at the federal level in effectively engaging Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government (MDAs) on climate change, according to him.

Jubril told his audience that a draft guidance note on climate change for states had been developed to help build capacity for effective state-level response to the menace.

Earlier, Benoit Bosquet, an official of the World Bank, said Nigeria will need about 140 billion U.S dollars to mitigate negative impacts of climate change in the country.

Bosquet who is an environmental expert also called for stronger collaborations between the public and private sectors in Nigeria to mobilize resources and tackle the menace.

He said Nigeria could not afford to toy with the global challenge, adding that the country would continue to get warmer by the days if the situation persisted.

Bosquet warned stakeholders against delaying action on greenhouse emissions, "the sooner action is taken, the lesser the cost of adaptation." Endit