‘Why Nigeria Wants Review Of Access To $100bn Climate Fund’

*To demand more percentage for grant to loan

Minister of Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, has said Nigeria will be going to the conference of parties with the aim of negotiating finances for projects that would enhance the country’s adaptation to climate change.

She said this at a press conference in Abuja, ahead of the nation’s appearance at Glasgow for the conference of parties COP26.

The minister said part of its negotiation on the fund would be for the Global climate fund to deal directly with developing countries, who contribute less to carbon emissions but are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, especially in Nigeria where the situation has taken a security dimension.

According to her, Nigeria would be assembling national experts in climate change negotiation to get a good deal for the nation especially as the nation was making determined efforts to meet its 20 per cent cut on carbon emissions.

Ikeazor said; “Africa is not one of the greatest emitters of Co2 but remained the most vulnerable, you can see the issue of flooding, you can see the issue of coastal erosion, you can see the issue of drought and desertification in the north.

“The herders’ farmers crises have been caused by climate change is fuelling the crises between the farmers and the herders because of issue of land degradation and lack of water and land.

“All these are caused by climate change we have to adapt to the new reality.

“And with every action we have put in place, we will be able to meet that 20 per cent, the issue we would have is the 47 per cent target conditionally, we would have to depend on international funding to do that.

“That is where the negotiations of the $100bn of the financing come in.

“There was a ministerial meeting on the great green wall, I raised a question because they have raised about $19bn for the acceleration of the great green wall.

“We found that only about 5 in or 8 per cent were grants and the rest was loans and the intervention Nigeria will be making on that they increase the grant component of the fund and reduce the loan component of all this.

“Nigeria has a climate finance advisor because in the past we have not been able to access a lot of the funding because of the criteria that were put in place we usually have like the third party groups that are part of the processing of the fund we would rather access the fund directly.

“We are working on putting out concept note together and getting our projects together, so that we would be getting a lot more climate finance both from Global Climate Fund (GCF) and other development partners.”