OPINION ARTICLE (Climate Change Act: When Will The Implementation Begin?)

Posted by Eric Ojo Articles/Opinion, Latest Headlines Monday, January 31st, 2022

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – In November last year, President Mohammadu Buhari made history when he gave assent to the Climate Change Bill, making Nigeria the second country in Africa after Kenya to have a climate change Act. Within the global context, President Buhari’s historic assent to the bill, sponsored by a member of the House of Representatives, Sam Onuigbo, has equally enlisted Nigeria in the league of other elite nations of the world that have enacted similar legislation aimed at eliminating carbon emissions, such as France, Ireland, Sweden, United Kingdom and Scotland, which hosted the 2021 edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, tagged COP26.

The primary goal of the Climate Change Act is to codify and put in place a robust legal framework that will enable Nigeria to actualize her long-term climate goals including a net-zero carbon emission target, national climate resilience, an adequate volume of climate finance, and the mainstreaming climate change actions into national development priorities. The act seeks to drive and improve the implementation of the country’s climate policies and facilitate cross-ministerial coordination of climate change action as well as the involvement of businesses and non-state actors needed to achieve the desired results.

In addition, the Act also paves the way for environmental and economic accounting and a push for a net zero emission deadline plan in the country through a systematic approach aimed at identifying the major climate risks and vulnerabilities facing the country and how to strengthen existing capacities to adapt to the impacts of climate change. This is very important for us as a frontline oil-dependent nation that is currently ranked as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change in the world.

It provides for, among other things, the mainstreaming of climate change actions and the establishment of a National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) which will oversee the implementation of the National Climate Change Action Plan. Moreover, the council which is chaired by the president, will supervise the activities and help the Federal Ministry of Environment to coordinate the implementation of sectoral targets and guidelines needed to achieve the National Climate Change Action Plan. Other members of the council include the vice-president, who would be the vice-chairman, ministers in charge of Environment, Budget, National Planning, Power, Transportation, Petroleum Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development, Water Resources, among others.

Aside from that, the council shall administer a climate change fund established under the new Act and play a key role in mobilising financial resources to support climate change actions throughout the country. Other members of the council include the vice-president, who would be the vice-chairman, ministers in charge of Environment, Budget, National Planning, Power, Transportation, Petroleum Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development, Water Resources, among others.

Notably, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and National Security Adviser are also members of the council. This, according to experts, is indicative of security implications of climate change in Nigeria and the vital role that finance will play in facilitating climate action and green transition in the country. The council will be served by a Secretariat situated at the Presidency that is headed by a Director-General, who will serve as Secretary to the council. Interestingly, the Act seeks to democratise climate governance through the inclusion of representatives from the private sector, youth, women groups, people with disabilities and civil society organisations in the council.

While commending President Buhari for signing the Climate Change Bill into law, the Director of Resource and Environmental Policy Research Centre, Environment for Development (REPRC-EfD Nigeria), Dr. Nnaemeka Chukwone said the law will promote environmental sustainability, climate-resilient development and effective management of the country’s climate crisis. Dr. Chukwone also noted that there is no better time to have a Climate Change Act than now, given the increasing need for environmental sustainability, low-carbon climate-resilient development, ecosystem conservation and the adoption of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) in the country’s budgeting and national planning.

The Act, according to him, has come at a crucial time that the Federal Ministry of Environment, in partnership with the REPRC-EfD Nigeria and Natural Eco Capital and with support from World Bank, has already taken the initiative aimed at helping Nigeria mainstream natural capital into its system of national accounts, adding that the partnership has done remarkable work on developing pilot Natural Capital Accounts (NCA) and natural capital accounting roadmap for Nigeria. He further explained that the pilot NCA for land cover, ecosystem extent, mangroves, and greenhouse gas were produced under the towards Natural Capital Accounts for Nigeria project, supported by the World Bank.

He also reaffirmed that the REPRC-ED is confident that the Act, which has given legal backing for the development of NCA for the country, will help fast track the production of NCAs and mainstream them into national policies and plans. “We also hope that the provisions of the Climate Change Act will be domesticated at the state levels for maximum impact. Preserving our environment and ecosystem is a collective responsibility that requires a healthy partnership among relevant stakeholders”, he stressed.

At a glance, the Act highlights some important key points. For example, the NCCC shall establish carbon mitigation budgets, coordinate mitigation and adaptation measures (including carbon taxing and emission trading), create regulations, levy penalties, and interface with civil society. It also establishes a legal cause of action. The powers of the of the NCCC seem expansive. Those powers include the development of sectoral targets and guidelines for GHG emission reductions, approval and implementation of the National Climate Change Action Plan, and collaboration with the Federal Inland Revenue Service to develop a mechanism for carbon tax in Nigeria and collaboration with the Federal Ministries responsible for the Environment and Trade “to develop and implement a mechanism for carbon emission trading.

The Act also establishes a “Climate Change Fund” over which the NCCC has responsibility. All carbon taxes and emission trading revenue are to be paid into the fund, along with funding from International Organizations owed to Nigeria (UNFCCC monies) and fines and fees levied on private and public entities that have “flouted” their climate change mitigation and adaptation obligations among other important content of the Act.

Considering the importance of the Climate Change Act to Nigeria’s environmental and economic accounting and a push for a net zero emission deadline plan in the country, I am concerned that since the presidential assent, there has been no communication from the Federal Government on a roadmap to the implementation of the Act.

Since the impact of climate change on our vulnerable population will not wait, there is the urgent need to begin now the implementation of the Act before it will be over shadowed by the activities surrounding the 2023 General Elections which are already gathering momentum, we therefore call on the Federal Ministry of Environment to complete the cycle of history and begin the implementation of the Act now.

David Michael is currently the Team Lead, Global Food Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP), a non-profit organization founded on the ideals of environmental education, climate change adaptation and mitigation, renewable energy and sustainable development.