Nigeria pledges $550,000 to Great Green Wall Secretariat construction

Nigeria has pledged to donate $550,000 to the building of the Great Green Wall Secretariat.

Nigeria is part of the African Union’s Great Green Wall initiative which aims to restore the continent’s degraded landscapes and transform millions of lives, while boosting food security, and strengthening climate resilience.

The initiative is aimed at combating desertification in the Sahel region through the planting of trees stretching the entire Sahel to hold back the expansion of the Sahara.

President Muhammadu Buhari made the pledge on Thursday in a speech delivered on his behalf by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the 8th Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers of Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall (PAGGW), which Nigeria is hosting in Abuja.

While announcing that Nigeria has also fulfilled the payment of its outstanding contribution of about $654,291 to the project, the president called on other member countries to follow suit by contributing towards the building of a befitting office for the PAGGW.

 

The President also stated that he has directed the Federal Ministry of Environment to coordinate the release of some vehicles for the use of the Pan African Agency of the Great Green Wall (PAGGW) secretariat and allied Agencies.

While pointing out that that the commitment of every nation would be important in meeting the deadline of the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration Agenda, the President stressed that the early disbursement of the pledged resources without stringent conditions would see the transformation of degraded ecosystems.

“I have in my capacity as the President of the Conference of Heads of States and Government of Member States, directed the Honourable Minister of Finance of Nigeria to lead the initiative to access the funds pledged by our Partners under the Great Green Wall Accelerator.

“The Minister will take appropriate States in line with the understanding we had at the Abidjan side meeting held on 9th May, 2022,” he stated.

Twin challenges
President Buhari said that African countries must continue to explore various measures to combat climate change, desertification while also addressing food insecurity and poverty across the continent.

The President said Nigeria’s plans to attain net zero by 2060 also focuses on how to creatively transit to net zero emissions and at the same time increase access to power and high agricultural and industrial output.

 

Highlighting the importance of tackling both poverty and climate change on the continent, the President stated that Africa is confronted with twin challenges.

“It is important to emphasize that for Africa, mitigation and adaptation methods for climate change must be mindful of the fact that Africa is confronted with twin challenges: the ravages of climate change, but perhaps more importantly the existential problem of extreme poverty. Both, not one, must be addressed,” President Buhari stated.

“We must take every opportunity and especially at meetings like this, to remind ourselves as African leaders and our development friends, of what the Great Green wall Initiative is and what it is not.”

President Buhari said that while the original vision was to create a wall of trees against desertification in the Sahel, the horn and across North Africa, the Great Green Wall today has a more ambitious reach—it is now a variety of sustainable land use practices designed to combat climate change and desertification and to address food insecurity and poverty.

Reeling out measures taken by Nigeria in addressing climate change, the President stated that “Nigeria believes that protecting our planet, its biodiversity and climate are essential to our collective survival.

“The impact of climate change is upon us all over the continent – drought and desertification increasing conflicts over pasture and water, food insecurity, loss of livelihood and youth migration among others.”

The President called the attention of stakeholders to the dangers posed by the receding Lake Chad due to the effects of climate change, warning that if the challenge is not addressed urgently, “fishing, dry season farming and all other associated value chain benefits are lost or greatly reduced.”

He commended the current initiatives by the international, technical and financial partners for pledging financial resources to support the implementation of the Great Green Wall Initiative and called for financing to help preserve African rain forests which he said absorb no less than 1.5 billion tons of CO2 yearly.

“This is more than the Amazon or any other region’s rainforests. Financing is needed to help preserve these vital carbon sinks: because without viable alternative energy sources, much of the local population still depends on burning firewood for cooking and heating.

“So, there is a need to provide sustainable energy alternatives – and to compensate regional governments who in the interest of maintaining these carbon sinks for us all have to forgo deforestation for agriculture or industrialisation.”

Fulfilling pledges

Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi said that the financial pledges and commitments made at the 4th edition of the One Planet Summit in France in 2021 led to the establishment of the Great Green Wall Accelerator.

According to him, this is seen as a multi-stakeholder platform to actualize in concrete terms actions on the Great Green Wall initiative on ground.

After declaring open the session, the President flagged-off the 2022 Tree Planting Campaign. He called on State governments to replicate same across their states so as to enable Nigeria meet its pledge of planting 25 million trees in the next 2 years.

 

 

 

 

Emmanuel Ukoh