By Chuks Oyema-Aziken
Director-General, National Council on Climate Change Secretariat, NCCCS, Dr. Nkiruka Chidia Maduekwe has expressed optimism that the carbon credit market will soon play a dominant role in the Nation’s economic recovery.
Dr. Maduekwe stated this on Friday while speaking with Journalists during the closing ceremony of the 3-Day Stakeholders Engagement on Nigeria’s Carbon Market Policy and Manual of Procedure.
It was organized by the National Council on Climate Change Secretariat (NCCCS) with the support of the UNDP, the EU, UK government and others.
She said participants at the workshop engaged in robust discussions on how to translate gains in the carbon market to boost revenue at the national and sub national levels.
“So, for the past three days, we’ve had stakeholders’ engagement on the carbon market policy, the manner of procedure, and also to help further strengthen the understanding of participants on what is climate finance, what is a bankable pipeline of projects, and also what is the National Determined Contribution.
She commended the development partners, UNDP, ACMI for bringing in experts to train personnel of NCCCS MDAs, ministry, departments and agencies, commissioners from the 36 states of Nigeria, and the FCT.
“Because now that Article 6 has been operationalised, we cannot delay in moving forward with the carbon market.
And so, that’s why we thought it best to first and foremost bring up the understanding of our participants and these critical stakeholders on what is the carbon market, and what is our role in ensuring that Nigeria actually has a robust carbon market.
“What does it mean when you say high integrity carbon credits? And what will it look like when you talk about a bankable carbon project? So this is what we’ve taken the participants through. And why is this also important? It’s important because for us as a country, we’re looking at non-oil export revenue, and the carbon market provides that alternative, or that option for us as a country.
“And for instance, you have the Article 6, you also have the Article 6.4, and you also have the Article 6.8. So all these things together forms a platform and opportunity for Nigeria to leverage on climate finance, and also the idea behind Article 6 is that it provides us the financial tool to implement our NDCs.
“And that is exactly what it’s about. And that’s why we found it very necessary to take them through what the NDC is, and where their role is towards implementing it, and where carbon market intersects with that role.
Dr. Maduekwe said the Council is considering taking the discussion to the people in the Grassroots to deepen their knowledge and participation in the carbon credit market.
“And that’s actually part of the Act, to have a dialogue on the NDC review for the six geopolitical zones, where we’ll also use that opportunity to train them and build that capacity on climate finance and the carbon markets. So these are the plans we have in place to be able to cascade it down to the local government areas.
“So not just the 36 states commissioners of environment, but engage with other staff of the ministry and also bring on board local government chairmen as well.
And that’s why we had as part of the participants, we had ALGON represented here to ensure that that is further cascaded down,” she added.
