By Chuks Oyema-Aziken
The draft Biennial Update Report (BUR2) and the first National Inventory Report (NIR1) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been validated.
The draft BUR2/NIR1 document was validated at a workshop jointly organised by the Federal Ministry of Environment and the United Nations Development Programme UNDP held in Lagos on 8th September.
The workshop brought together relevant Stakeholders from the MDAs, State Climate Change Desk Officers, DCC Staff, National Experts and International Consultants, Academia, CSOs, the organized Private Sector and the Media from across Nigeria.
This is in line with the requirements of the UNFCCC with respect to the development of the inventory of the anthropogenic emission by sources and removals by sinks of Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere as well as communicating Nigerian situation to the Convention.
The Validation Workshop aimed at informing Stakeholders of the relevance of these national documents and encourage interactions and useful contribution to enhance its finalization and submission.
The workshop recommended that Governance structure for the development of the BUR2 and NIR1 reports should be strengthened to include effective participation from Federal and State MDAs; Future efforts should focus on developing national emission factors for improved quantitative analysis in the long term; The Department of Climate Change (DCC) of the Federal Ministry of Environment should ensure that documents for validation are forwarded to stakeholders ahead of workshops;
 Other recommendations are that DCC write stakeholders to identify qualified and relevant officers to act as focal persons on climate change for MDAs that are yet to do so. If possible, provisions should be made for alternates to nominated focal persons; There should be capacity building of stakeholders with provision of support for standardized data gathering; All stakeholders from national and sub-national levels should be involved in activity data gathering;
The participants further called for the establishment of national MRV with synergy with states; Every state should have desk offices, and technical committees on climate change which should involve the relevant MDAs, and civil society organizations at State levels; and that DCC should create a simplified template for GHG inventory, share and coordinate with States.
Earlier, three papers, Overview/Development of BUR2 and NIR1; Challenges of National Communications and the Evolution of Biennial Update Report; and Submission of the BUR2 and the International Consultations and Analysis (ICA) Process where presented.
These presentations highlighted the progress made, challenges encountered and key recommendations to facilitate the successful submission and implementation of both documents.
Declaring the workshop open, the Acting Director, Department of Climate Change, Mrs Halima Bawa-Bwari said Nigeria as a Party to the UNFCCC is required to prepare its Biennial Update Report (BUR), National Inventory Report (NIR) and National Communications on a continuous basis.Â
She said “The Second Biennial Update Report (BUR2) and the First National Inventory Report (NIR1) has successfully been completed and is ready for validation today, while the Inception workshop to commence the preparation of the Fourth National Communication (NC4) will be held on the 2nd day of this workshop.Â
She said the purpose of preparing the Biennial Update Report (BUR), is to enhance reporting of mitigation actions and their effects.Â
“Nigeria as one of the non- Annex 1 Parties under the UNFCCC has the obligation to prepare and submit every 2years, transparent, accurate, comprehensive, consistent and comparable BUR to the COP. In fulfilment to this obligation, the BUR1 was submitted in 2017 and immediately after that, the implementation of the BUR2 and the NIR1 commenced.
“Please, recall that National Communications are national documents all Parties to the UNFCCC are obligated to prepare and submit periodically to the Convention. Nigeria being a Party is expected to communicate to the Convention, its National Inventory of greenhouse gas emission by sources and removal by sinks, and measures established towards mitigating global climate change.
“The main purpose of preparing the National Communications is to ascertain the level of greenhouse gas composition in the atmosphere, the vulnerability, adaptation and abatement analyses of the impacts of Climate Change, it also serves as a basis for reference, on future auditing of Greenhouse gas inventory in the country.
“Consequently, Nigeria has prepared and submitted its Initial National Communication (INC), Second National Communication (SNC) and Third National Communication to the UNFCCC Secretariat and is in process of commencing the implementation of the Fourth NC, which is one of the reasons we are gathered here today.
“Therefore, in order to conclude and also initiate the activities mentioned earlier, it is important to ensure a cross-sectoral involvement, participation and national ownership of these national document. This clearly indicates why your participation in this workshop is very vital for a successful outcome.
In his remarks, UNDP representative, Muyiwa Odele said UNDP is happy to have supported the Government of Nigeria in the production of the BUR 2, which has assisted the country in meeting its global obligation and commitments to tackling climate change in concert with the global community, in a transparent / accountable and evidenced based fashion.
“Your engagement is essential, as an endorsement of the report, after which it would be submitted to the UNFCCC Secretariat and Nigeria can comfortably join the league of other nations who have submitted their BUR 2
“The BUR 2 is a strategic piece of this whole design given the detailed information on specific actions that should be prioritized in order for Nigeria to attain its targets in the revised NDC.
“The UNDP believes in the need to continue to invest in strengthening institutions of Government / Individuals and Private sector with cutting edge skills, expertise, exposure that will equip them to become the drivers of the preparation of the reports.Â
“Working with the leadership of DCC our strategy is to use these processes to present a collaborative platform for the different relevant divisions under the department of climate change to become an integral part of the process and eventually lead future preparation.
“Nigeria has a strategic leadership role to play in Africa and we in UNDP strongly believes that with the calibre of people/ level of engagement and quality of data that underpins the preparation of the BUR 2 and most importantly the continuing high level of political commitment is a clear demonstration that Nigeria is up to the task.
Odele noted that climate change is an existential threat “we are practically running out of time to address these challenges and we need everyone to be able to tackle it. That Nigeria is highly vulnerable has been well documented over the years and that Covid 19 has shown that urgent actions are needed.”
