Nigeria has submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) to address climate change to UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
This followed President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval for the submission on November 26.
This information was in a statement in Abuja on Monday by Mr Femi Adesina, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.
He said that Nigeria’s INDC was approved by the President and submitted to the UNFCCC on Nov. 28, ahead of Monday’s opening in Paris of the UN Climate Change conference, widely known as COP 21.
It stated that the Federal Government’s policy to address climate change, as espoused in the country’s INDC, committed it to 20 per cent unconditional and 45 per cent conditional Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emission reduction post-2020.
According to the statement, the action plan announced by the Federal Government represents a fair and meaningful contribution to address climate change.
It said that the plan also reaffirmed President Buhari’s commitment to an economic transformation which placed inclusive, green growth as key priority for his administration.
“President Buhari is fully aware of the acute threat that climate change poses to Nigeria’s development through flooding, desertification and insecurity, and many of these accrue from weather-related natural disasters,’’ it added.
The statement said while in Paris, President Buhari would participate in a meeting on Lake Chad’s current depletion, which had become a cause of international concern.
The meeting of the Lake Chad Basin Summit of Heads of State and Government, which the President would attend with Nigeria’s delegation, is slated for December 1.
The Lake Chad is currently less than 10 per cent of its original size and little of the remaining waters is in Nigeria.
About 11.7 million of an estimated 20 million people that lived on the Lake Chad Basin as at 2013 were in the North Eastern region of Nigeria.
Also, during the conference in Paris, President Buhari is scheduled to participate in the launching of International Solar Alliance by the Indian Prime Minister and the French President.
The statement said that President Buhari would also seek international partnerships to deliver Nigeria’s climate change response.
Buhari arrives France for climate change conference
President Muhammadu Buhari arrived Paris, France, Sunday evening to join about 150 other world leaders for the Conference of Parties 21 (COP21).
The meeting is aimed at getting nations to agree on how to deal with the issue of climate change.
President Buhari will present Nigeria’s statement at the opening session Monday before participating in the launching of the International Solar Alliance, an initiative of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has invited around 110 nations to join the alliance.
The alliance is to be named the International Agency for Solar Policy and Application (InSPA) and is aimed at a host of African nations and others located within the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.
The President will thereafter attend a summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin Republic which has been scheduled to take place tomorrow on the sidelines of the COP21.
Deliberations at the Paris meeting of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin Republic will focus mainly on the war against Boko Haram and other security issues of common interest to participating countries.
Also on Tuesday, the president has been scheduled to participate in another COP21 sideline event titled: “The Conference on Climate Change and African Solutions” organised by the African Union (AU).
CHOGM: Terrorism will thrive with people’s complacency – Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari declared Sunday in Malta that violent extremism and terrorism can only thrive and endure if good people remain idle and complacent.
Speaking on behalf of other participating African Heads of state and government at the closing Executive Session of the 2015 Commonwealth Summit, President Buhari in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant, Media, Garba Shehu, said that he was confident that terrorism will be ultimately defeated with greater international cooperation and collaboration.
“We have had the opportunity to discuss, in a serene atmosphere, wide ranging issues that are of great significance, not only to the members of the Commonwealth, but to the entire global community.
“Of particular note is the Action Statement on Climate Change, which is expected to herald our commitment to saving the planet for present and future generations.
“Of equal significance are our deliberations on radicalisation and violent extremism. We are witnesses to the growing phenomenon of terrorism that is affecting us all, whether big or small.
-Leadership