Climate Action: Nigeria launches Deep De-carbonization Project

The Nigerian government has launched the Deep De-carbonization Project DDP as part of measures to reduce emission of climate change.

The DDP Nigeria is a national research and capacity building project for the implementation of a Deep De-carbonization Pathway Programme, DDPP in Nigeria.

It is a collaboration project between the Federal Ministry of Environment and the Agence Française de Dévelopment AFD with the International Relation and Sustainable Development Institute IDDRI, as the Programme Coordinator.

Minister of Environment, Sharon Ikeazor who launched the project in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, said the government was determined to reduce carbon emission by 50% come 2050 in its quest to meet net-zero carbon emission levels.

She noted that the Deep De-carbonization Project is a very important component to navigate Nigeria and the global world over the harsh and unpleasant risks of climate change.

Interventions
Ikeazor stressed that the Nigerian government has made several climate change interventions intended to mitigate climate change and increase resilience to avert the excruciating consequences of climate change.

“The Nigerian government  formulated and communicated its Long-Term Low GHG Emission Development Strategies, LT-LEDS and envisioned that by 2050, Nigeria will be a country of low-carbon, climate-resilient, high-growth circular economy that reduces its current level of emissions by 50%, moving towards having net-zero emissions across all sectors of its development in a gender-responsive manner,” the Minister explained.

Ikeazor also said there is need to better understand the quantities of emissions reduction that can be made from each of the sectors of the economy such as power, oil and gas, transport, agriculture, industry, etc.

 “We need to have a better understanding of how rapidly such emissions can be made in tandem with sustainable economic growth, the technologies that will be needed and the wider economic and social implications of rapid emission reduction pathways, such degree of clarity is critical for planning, financing, and securing the long-term investment needed to shift our green and climate-resilient development future,” she stated.

Capacity of academics
The National Project leader for DDP Nigeria, Professor Chukwumerije Okereke said what prompted  the project is a desire to build a capacity of Nigerian academics, to be able to design high quality, rigorous, robust climate change models that can guide international climate policy.

“This project was prompted by the fact that year after year, Nigeria designs and publishes nationally important documents and plans around climate change. What about mitigation? What is about adaptation, and more recently, the nationally determined contribution that provides a guideline of how Nigeria can reduce their emissions in the long run while also growing sustainability. However, all of these plans have been really designed and written by foreigners, foreign experts, international experts, and the reason is that Nigeria does not have enough capacity on what we call climate modeling.” he explained.

Long-term strategies
Professor Okereke said the team will be working very closely with the government to make inputs into the long term strategies; the long term climate change development strategy that the government will be producing next year, before COP 27 in Egypt.

Having Nigerian academics working in collaboration with other ministries, and guided by the Department for climate change under the Federal Ministry of Environment, we hope that we’ll be able to produce long term strategies. These strategies will be relevant, specific contexts that will accommodate the uniqueness of our Nigeria and certain that they will help to ensure that whatever is produced will be implemented,” Okereke added.

Zero emissions
Director of the DDP Initiative at IDDRI, Mr. Henri Waisman, said all countries should consider positive zero emissions within their boundaries by 2050- 2070, notably from fossil fuels combustion and maximize the domestic carbon sinks.

He noted that carbon neutrality by 2050-2070 is feasible in all the country contents IDDRI have investigated and it is possible to achieve simultaneously carbon neutrality and key socio-economic goals, as defined by each country.

“We develop scientifically robust analysis of pathways achieving the systemic transformations towards carbon neutrality; we use this analysis to structure domestic conversations with decision makers and stakeholders on options, choices and risks,” he said.

The Nigeria Deep De-carbonization Project is designed to generate context-specific scenarios and long-term modelling that will offer substantial evidence to support the government’s long term emission reduction strategies and climate action in general.

Nneka Ukachukwu