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From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Federal Government, yesterday, said that Nigeria’s energy transition has a potential to create over 170,000 jobs in off-grid solar deployment in the power sector and up to 200, 000 jobs across the supply chain for clean cooking solutions.
Speaking at an interministerial committee meeting on climate change, in Abuja, Minister of State for Environment, Chief Sharon Ikeazor, said net job creation can be up to 840,000 jobs with the boost of electric vehicles and off-grid solar.
“With eight years to go until the deadline for achieving the energy access Sustainable Development Goal 7, and with 2060 fast approaching, the time begins now.
It is imperative to note that we must accelerate actions on ground with catalytic partnerships, frameworks, policies, and regulations needed to crowd-in investments at scale to achieve our objectives” she said.
According to Ikeazor, Nigeria has a revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) with additional sectors (waste and water), more ambitious targets and an increase from 45 to 47 per cent conditional with international support.
“President Muhammad Buhari in November 2021 signed into law the Climate Change Bill passed by the National Assembly. This Climate Change Law provides an overarching legal framework to articulate a long-term climate plan for Nigeria to achieve a net-zero carbon emission target, national climate resilience, with the structure of the International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC) providing roles for each Ministry Department and Agency (MDA) in line with respective mandates to align, analyse gaps and opportunities and prioritise activities for the implementation of the NDC. The NDC activities are expected to be weighed against the Energy Transition Plan, National Adaptation Plan, Gender Action Plan, National Development Plan 2022 – 2025 to ensure alignment. This will accentuate activities with associated costs (as per sector) and timelines” the Minister noted.
Ikeazor noted that Nigeria as a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) actively participated in the negotiations held at the recently-concluded conference of parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from October 31 to November 13, 2021 and the need to galvanise political will demonstrated by President Muhammadu Buhari on Nigeria’s Net Zero Emissions commitment by 2060.
“This has created an even greater urgency to implement activities for rapid reduction of emission across all sectors of the economy to avert disastrous and catastrophic climate impacts” she said.
