Nigeria Makes
Progress In Climate Change Policy
The
implementation of the Second National Communication (SNC)
project on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change has reached 70 per cent completion.
The Federal Ministry of Environment gave this indication.
An Assistant Director at the Special Climate Change Unit (SCCU)
of the ministry, Mr. Yerima Tarfa said that the preparation of
National Communication (NC) is an obligation on all Parties to
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, of
which Nigeria became a Party in 1994.
Project objectives
He said the project, aimed at mainstreaming climate change
issues into development and sectoral planning and policy through
national capacity building, had reached an advanced stage.
According to him, the NC gives baseline information on national
circumstances as it relates to climate change and allows for
intervention and mainstreaming into National Development Plans.
The SNC is expected to intimate other Parties to the Convention
about Nigeria’s national circumstance with respect to greenhouse
gases composition in the country’s atmosphere.
Information in the SNC would include vulnerability, adaptation
and abatement analyses of the impacts of Climate Change as well
as what options were available to mitigate the resultant
effects.
Nigeria’s status
According to him, Nigeria submitted its First National
Communication document to the UNFCCC in Bonn, Germany, in
November 2003.
Tarfa said 20 countries across the world, including five from
Africa, had, as at December 2009, submitted their SNC to the
UNFCCC.
The document provided the baseline information on inventories of
greenhouse gases, mitigations, vulnerabilities and adaptation to
climate change, awareness and education activities and proposed
projects for further monitoring and mitigating climate change.
Tarfa explains: ’’SNC is a continuation of activities
performed under the First National Communication (FNC) and other
studies/activities undertaken after the FNC…It will provide
systematic information on the trends in climate change
indicators in Nigeria based on available national data on
systematic observations and research on future climate
scenarios.’’
He said that even though Nigeria was behind schedule, the
project was progressing well as the consultants in the thematic
groups had submitted their draft reports to the SCCU.
’’The document would form the basis against which future
auditing of climate situation in the country would be
compared,’’ he said.
Tarfa explained that the document would assist the Conference of
the Parties to the Convention in assessing how far each Party
was complying with the implementation of the Convention
especially the aspect which had to do with Green House Gas (GHG)
emission.
According to him, this is in line with the UNDP corporate goal
to integrate global environmental concerns and commitments into
national policy and also contribute to progress towards ensuring
environmental sustainability.
Tafar said the project would encourage research in scientific,
technological, technical and socio-economic fields as well as
cooperation in systematic observations and data storage related
to climate system.
Challenges of implementation
Dr. Ernest Afiesimama of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET),
Lagos, identified some of the constraints facing the groups to
include power supply situation, inadequate funding and the lack
of necessary data.
Afiesimama said: ’’Funding is a major constraint. What we
have received in terms of funding is 25 per cent of what is
required to do this job…These are studies that should serve as
input to national planning; I thought that government should
have provided enough resources to get fundamental information;
one of the building blocks to fast-track development.’’
He, however, said that the project was on course as the
consultants had resolved to make personal sacrifices to produce
a good document.
Funding for the project is through a uniform envelope to all
developing countries from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The envelope is irrespective of country's size, population or
circumstance.
NAN/Yinka
