72nd UNGA: Nigeria needs $142bn to meet NDC target

The Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, has said the delivery of Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) requires a fundamental re-orientation of financial flows within the economy.

The minister, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, said it is estimated that Nigeria will require around $142 billion, translating to about $10 billion per annum to meet her NDC target by 2030. “It therefore becomes imperative that capital will need to flow toward low-carbon, climate resilient opportunities and away from carbon intensive, polluting activities or those that exacerbate climate vulnerability,” he stated.

He said the Paris Agreement signed and ratified by President Muhammadu Buhari in March, has an oftenoverlooked yet critical provision, which is making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate resilient development. According to him, Nigeria as Africa’s largest economy faces significant development challenges further exacerbated by climate change, adding that to make development more sustainable, “We have to change development paths from carbon intensive to low carbon technologies, which will make a significant contribution to our climate goals.”

While buttressing the provision of SDGs 13 on the need to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts, he said Nigeria has recognised that climate change presents one of the greatest challenges of the world today.