Nigeria has been asked by the United Nations (UN) to accelerate the implementation of national climate change plans (including the Nationally Determined Contributions, Energy Transition Plan, and Climate Change Act) and increase its ambition to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060.
During a visit to Nigeria to engage with the government on the implementation of national climate change plans, Nigel Topping, the UN High Level Champion for COP26, made this call.
During his visit, he met with top government officials, leading private and financial sector leaders, civil society organizations, and climate change activists in Abuja and Lagos to discuss the benefits of a green transition, as well as to better understand the challenges and how to overcome them, and to advance the UK government’s overall effort to boost climate action in Nigeria.
“I congratulate Nigeria on its ambitious NDC, the Energy Transition Plan announced at COP26 in November, and the passage of the Climate Change Act that followed,” Topping said. Now is the time to put these policies into action.
“It is critical to mobilize both state and non-state actors – including enterprises, academia, and civil society – to enhance Nigeria’s investment climate so that the country can attract the right investments that would expedite the country’s transition to a low-carbon, resilient economy.”
“With the UK as the current COP Presidency and following the historic COP26 event conducted in Glasgow last November, and ahead of COP27 in Egypt later this year, it was crucial for us to have Nigel Topping here in Nigeria,” said Ben Llewellyn-Jones Obe, the British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos. His visit serves as a timely reminder of how hard the UK is working around the world with its partners, such as Nigeria, to ensure that every effort is made to deliver on and put into practice the promises made by the UK, Nigeria, and the rest of the world to combat climate change.”
In January 2020, Topping was named the UK Government’s High Level Climate Champion for COP 26 to help accelerate climate change action from businesses, investors, organizations, cities, and regions, and to coordinate this work with governments and parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
