Nigeria and other developing nations are set to benefit from the United States of America’s pledge of $3 billion in climate investment funds at the COP28 Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The US Vice President, Kamala Harris, stated on Saturday that her country is committing $3 billion in climate funds to developing nations to mitigate gas emissions and climate change.
This climate finance initiative is coming on the heels of the recent announcement by the UAE government to inject 30 billion dollars into climate-related projects in developing nations.
Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa as well as an Oil-producing nation, is one of the stakeholders attempting to reduce its oil dependence and diversify its energy source to a greener economy.
Speaking with other stakeholders at the CO28 Summit, President Bola Tinubu assured global partners that Nigeria is committed to ending gas flaring as well as promoting greenhouse initiatives in the energy sector.
What the US is Saying
The US is one of the biggest financers of climate projects in the world. According to Kamala Harris, international climate finance committed by the US reached $5.8 billion in 2022.
In addition, US climate finance is set to eclipse $9.5 billion, the official said, putting the country on a path to potentially fulfil President Joe Biden’s ambition to provide more than $11 billion in 2024.
Harris stated that the greenhouse initiative is pivotal to ending fossil fuel dependency around the world, calling on world leaders to embrace a greener economic environment.
- “This is a pivotal moment – our action collectively, or worse our inaction, will impact billions of people for decades to come
- “Around the world, there are those who seek to slow or stop our progress. Leaders who deny climate science, delay climate action and spread misinformation,” she said.
She also noted that the funds will go to far less than several less wealthy countries, to the loss and damage fund, a structure set up to assist developing countries most at risk from climate impacts.
Other Climate-related Investment
To mitigate against the effect of climate change in developing countries, the rich world was supposed to provide $100 billion a year in climate finance for emerging economies starting in 2020, a milestone it appears to have reached two years later.
According to Bloomberg, $9.3 billion in new commitments have already been announced by the UK, France, Germany, Japan, and other nations at COP28. This is the second round of replenishment for the fund, and the US promises would bring it to its highest level yet.
Nigeria, an Oil-producing nation and the most populous in Africa is positioned to be a top gainer from these climate funds.
Speaking to stakeholders at the margin of the COP28 Summit, the president said,
- “Sitting here in this room, I know that we have to commit ourselves. We have been doing so before today. We are committed to critical steps to reduce methane emissions by ensuring gas flaring is eliminated. There is a huge penalty for that. There is equally a huge incentive to do so.
- “The measures that are taken here are a welcome development, no doubt about that. I am with the leadership of the UAE for the commitment shown so far.
- “We are consolidating on gas export, usage domestically, and export to other countries. I can assure you that we will be partners in progress to achieve renewable energy.
- “We are committed to the energy mix; we are providing cooking gas for our large population. We will continue to do that.
- “We have signed off on the reduction of methane. We will leverage new technology and we hope that the two giant nations and the Emirates will be able to help us.”
