The Federal Government has expressed its determination to explore carbon pricing as a strategy to tackle the climate change challenges in the country.
The Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change, Salisu Dahiru, disclosed this on Saturday in Abuja.
According to him, carbon pricing would address the nation’s climate challenges, as it curbs greenhouse gas emissions by placing a fee on emissions and/or offering an incentive for emitting less.
He said, “As far as Nigeria is concerned, the carbon trading scheme is an aspect of our national policy. Carbon pricing is one of the foundational works that is needed to be done in order to prepare Nigeria to participate in the emissions trading scheme for which the process has begun.”
Dahiru noted that the processes and understanding of carbon pricing would meet Nigeria’s input.
“We will ensure that every opportunity for harvesting emission reduction certificates from ongoing activities in Nigeria is linked to our NCCC. Carbon trading is not going to be limited only to the NCCC but to all the ministries, departments, and agencies or sectors that are interested in pursuing projects that can end carbon credit,” he said.
He expressed optimism that the workshop would facilitate one of the robust carbon trading systems in Africa and lay the foundation for stakeholders in Nigeria working towards achieving the target.
“We are very familiar with the flooding in 2022. We are seeing signs of flooding, especially with the recent one at Lugbe, which tends to highlight that nobody can escape the impact of climate change.
“It calls for conceited and collective efforts to ensure that Nigeria is fully positioned to take advantage of the opportunities in climate change and adaptation. It is not only for us but for the government to invest in the private sector to see what is in carbon trading,” Dahiru added.
Source: The Punch
