Traders in carbon emission reductions have been issued a warning by the Federal Government of Nigeria, as it anticipates substantial economic benefits from the implementation of a national initiative to reduce emissions, giving them the option to abide by all legal requirements or risk legal repercussions. Salisu Dahiru, the Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change, which is a Federal Government institution, delivered the warning at a validation workshop for the evaluation of the carbon pricing programme in Nigeria conducted in Abuja on Wednesday.
He demanded that those traders who were doing Trade without consulting a recognised authority immediately cease engaging in such conduct. The purchase and selling of credits that allow a firm or other entity to release a specified quantity of carbon dioxide or other Greenhouse gases is referred to as carbon trade. Carbon trading and the issuance of its credits are both activities that have been legalised by national governments with the intention of progressively reducing total Emissions and lessening the impact of those emissions on Climate Change.
Government’s priority will be given direction by the regulatory guidance.
Dahiru stated that initial regulatory guidance issued by the country emphasised the demand for a carbon trading scheme and that the finalised version of the regulatory guidance, once drafted and in effect, would be customised in the direction of the government’s priority and also would be in line with Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions on carbon emission, so it should not be changed. According to him, the widespread practice of engaging in its trading schemes without consulting Nigeria’s authorised national body for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change must be put to an end.
They would guarantee that every possibility for harvesting emission reduction certificates from current operations in Nigeria is tied to the NDC since that is what the Paris Agreement indicated, and that is what they want to pursue. They aim to make the most of those possibilities so that they can make the investments that are essential and also steer development in the direction of their primary objectives, which are outlined in the NDC as well as the net zero targets.
Climate impact will affect everyone if measures are not taken.
More so, he explained that as far as the country was involved, the carbon trading scheme was a component of its national strategy and a top priority to put into effect all of the actions that may address the nation’s mitigation and adaptation concerns. In regards to the climate impact, he said they are well informed about the floods that took place the year before, and this year they have noticed the signals that flooding will take place again.
Stressing the adverse effect, he said that everyone would be affected by climate change, he said this time around, it was widespread in Abuja’s Lugbe neighbourhood. Therefore, he urged cooperation and coordination to put Nigeria in the best possible position to take benefit of climate change adaptation and mitigation initiatives. Not only should the government put funds into this, but the Private Sector should as well so that it can capitalise on its trading when it becomes available.
Policies and mechanisms to stimulate its pricing is needed.
Lastly, Hadjie Diagne, who is the Lead Coordinator of the African Group of Negotiators on Carbon Markets, said that the government needs to put in place policies and mechanisms to stimulate its pricing. According to Diagne, industrialised nations have shown that pricing carbon is one of the most effective economic strategies for lowering emissions. In addition, he said that the price of carbon contributed to the support of adaptation measures in addition to the reduction of Poverty through Revenue generation.
