The Minister of State at the Federal Ministry of Environment, Iziaq Salako announced that Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan would necessitate $1.9 trillion in expenditures until the year 2060, with an additional $410 billion needed above the standard business-as-usual spending.
The minister disclosed in Abuja; shortly after arriving from the inaugural AU Africa Climate Summit held in Nairobi, Kenya.
He revealed that this extra financial requirement translates to approximately $10 billion per year. However, it’s worth noting that over the last ten years, the average international funding directed towards clean energy projects in Nigeria has been only $655 million annually.
Salako also clarified that meeting Nigeria’s unconditional target outlined in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) would demand annual investments of $17.7 billion.
What Salako said
Salako, who represented the president and delivered his speech at the summit, stated that he has crafted an Energy Transition Plan. According to him, the focus remains on fostering industrialization, job generation, and economic growth.
He spoke further saying,
- “Significantly, our plan helps to crystallize the scale of resources needed to deliver climate targets, so that the current financial flows will not suffice.”
- “We have established that the developed world contributes to the problem of climate change, The solution is in Africa, and for the first time, Africa was able to speak with one voice and come out with the Nairobi declaration which talks a lot about the need for the developed world to treat Africa as one.
- “Not just given handouts or aids but more or less paying for what they have caused in terms of supporting green transitions, green jobs, energy transition to more sustainable ones and that are in general terms for Africa.
- “For Nigeria, we were able to establish that the bold step taken by President Tinubu to remove subsidy from fossil fuel is not just an economic decision because if you look at the data, you will find out between when the subsidy was removed and now, consumption of fossil fuel has gone down by almost 30 per cent. If you quantify that in terms of emissions, it is running into millions of tons that we have been able to reduce.
- “So, African leaders have been able to declare that removal of fuel subsidy is a survival decision, and it has helped Nigeria to refocus as we are now exploring alternatives.”
Furthermore, he emphasized that on a continental scale, Africa has successfully united to underscore that it is facing the brunt of a climate crisis, one that has been primarily caused by the developed world.
