From Adetutu Folasade-Koyi and Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
The Federal Government is set to issue N250 billion Sovereign Green Bond between May and October this year.
Briefing newsmen at the eighth Ministerial Press Briefing in Abuja, Minister of Environment, Alhaji Balarabe Abas, said that Nigeria was first African country to launch the Sovereign Green Bond in 2017 with N10 billion.
The second issuance, he stated, was launched in 2019 with the sum of N15 billion. The administration, the minister, added, is set to launch the third and fourth issuance by the end of May and in October 2025, with the sum of N50 billion and N250 billion respectively.
“Before we came, the gas was burning for four years. Four years! That fire had been burning, destroying the ecosystem, destroying the livelihood of the people of that area. Then, it is when we came, we moved in there, trying to address it.
“So, the other area that I believe is very important is the area of environmental impact assessment, which is under the Ministry of Environment. For all the projects that go on in this country, they must undergo environmental analysis. They must undergo an assessment that will confirm that that project will not affect the society in that area, and will not be harmful to the ecosystem of that area.
“In that part, I think we did very well in all areas, and I want to commend the ministers of this administration. Before, most government ministries could not go far. They just assumed that it will just be done.
But now, no government ministry or department can undertake any project without going through a year ahead. So, then the other one is the National Standard Administration, which I think has come out with so many policies in trying to address the environmental issue.
“There are people who are trying to make sure that we do things the right way. And we have been through that. And on climate education, the ministry has entered an agreement from the federal to state working on national climate change policy.
That’s a very important policy. The kind of thing we do now, particularly in rural areas, depletes our forests.
That’s why we went to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the 24th of April, 2024 and the council approved the climate policy. And since then, we have done quite a lot in trying to provide this budget source.
“And we have sent them to the state government so that they can do more in that area. And when I was told by a doctor that if a woman, our mothers, go into the kitchen and produce one meal, she has smoked four packets of cigarettes” he said
The minister also disclosed that West Africa Coastal Areas (WACA) is a World Bank-sponsored initiative that supports countries in West/East African Coastline, including Nigeria, in managing coastal erosion, flooding, and other coastline related environmental challenges.
“The programme focuses on sustainable coastal resilience, pollution control, and ecosystem restoration to protect coastal communities and economies. The ministry is working on the framework to involve the seven coastal states.
“The Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) Project is a capacity-building initiative by the Federal Government and supported by the World Bank. Its primary objective is to develop sustainable capacity in managing procurement, environmental and social standards in both public and private sectors across Nigeria. This initiative has its environmental standards component anchored by the Federal Ministry of Environment” he said.
The ministry, according to the minister, has commenced the implementation of a bamboo development factory in Kogi State to promote bamboo and rattan economy in Nigeria in line with the diversification drive of the Renewed Hope Administration. Feasibility studies for the development of Seven more bamboo factories are ongoing in Ogun, Cross River, Kaduna, Edo, Benue, Ekiti and Taraba states.
Meanwhile, the Department of Forestry had recently received and handed over eleven 20-feet containers of logs (semi-processed wood) feet that were intercepted and confiscated by the Nigeria Customs Service. The ministry has also launched the agroforestry projects to integrate agriculture into forests across the nation, Abas said.