FG,  France  move to mitigate carbon effect in Nigeria

From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja

As part of  the global desire to mitigate the effects of carbon in the world,  the Federal Government  and the French Development Agency, “Agence Française de Dévelopment” (AFD) yesterday, decided to  promote climate action aimed at  lowering the carbon effect in  Nigeria.

The  agreement was reached in Abuja,  when the new Country Director of the French Development Agency (AFD), Mr. Xavier Muron, paid a courtesy visit to the Minister of State for  Environment, Chief Sharon Ikeazor in her office in Abuja.

In a statement, Muron said the visit was to discuss AFD strategies and priorities for climate action in Nigeria, especially based on the just-concluded COP26 and the commitment of Nigeria in this regard. 

He also said the meeting was intended to provide an opportunity to discuss the upcoming launch of the Nigeria Deep Decarbonisation Project (DDP Nigeria) scheduled to hold in Abuja in the coming week.

The Country Director noted that AFD was already funding and collaborating with the ministry on several high-impact projects in the areas of waste management, biodiversity conservation, urban development, power transmission, and off-grid capacity development. Some of these, he said, are already ongoing while some are in the pipeline. The Country Director expressed happiness over the Nigeria Deep Decarbonisation Project which is a national research and capacity building project for the implementation of a Deep Decarbonisation Pathway Programme (DDPP) in Nigeria funded by the Agence Française de Dévelopment (AFD) with the International Relations  and Sustainable Development Institute (IDDRI) as the Programme Co-ordinator.