The Chairman of the House of Representatives Climate Parliament Nigeria, Hon Sam Onuigbo, has said that time is running out on the country to birth the National Council on Climate Change to drive the Act towards realizing objective of its establishment.
Onuigbo therefore called on the federal government to as a matter of necessity expedite action on the inauguration of the Council in line with the Act which came into force on November 17, 2021 following assent by resident Muhammadu.
He noted that the Act set 2060 as target date for Nigeria to achieve a net zero carbon emission, adding that it also provides timelines for the attainment of specific objectives.
Hon. Onuigbo, who stated these while addressing a two-day Climate Parliament workshop in Abuja, said the non implementation of the provisions of the Act is a source of concern for Nigerians.
The lawmaker, who midwifed the Climate Change Bill, said that Section 19(2) of the Act mandates that the Federal Ministry of Environment in consultation with the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning to present the pilot carbon budget to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) through the National Council on Climate Change, not later than one year from the date of assent to the Bill.
According to him; “That automatically means that the pilot carbon budget must be presented on or before November 16, 2022. In the same vein, the Federal Ministry of Environment and the Secretariat of the National Council on Climate Change are mandated by Section 20 to develop the five-yearly Action Plan for the realization of the carbon budget.
“Section 20(2) mandates that the first Action Plan must be ready within one year of assent to the Bill. It is important to note that Section 20(3) mandates that before the Action Plan is presented to the Council and FEC, it must be made public for eight weeks (culminating 14 days before the date of presentation to the Council) for the public to review.
“It is therefore time to inaugurate the Council for proper coordination of our Climate Change efforts,” he said.
Onuigbo further said that Climate Parliament has been in the forefront of advocacy and conversation around climate change especially as it has to do with renewable energy.
The lawmaker appealed to the international community to invest in the nation’s renewable energy sector citing the huge potential.
Onuigbo further said; “Let me use this medium to call on the International Community with private finance to come and invest in Nigeria’s renewable energy sub-sector as a way of helping to solve Nigeria’s energy problem.
“The time to take advantage of the massive investment opportunity is now. Which is why we advise them not to repeat the mistakes made by some of them during the privatisation of the telecommunications sub-sector,” he said.
