Nigeria to tap climate funds to drive infrastructure, green energy jobs
Nigeria is looking the way of climate funds to step up the expansion of infrastructure, green energy and jobs, and so is giving thought to unlocking international finance to actualise the ambition.
Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the Economy, revealed in his address at the inaugural session of the 31st Nigerian Economic Summit on Monday, that the government is holding talks with multilateral organisations like the World Bank, IMF, AfDB, and the G20 to back the move.
“That’s where the money is, and that’s where we, too, must focus our efforts. Recognising this, at COP28, we saw the trends clearly and immediately established a Green Growth Office and Facility in the Ministry of Finance,” Mr Edun stated.
“This was to align Nigeria with the global direction in financing for development, toward growth-oriented, job-creating projects that the world is willing to fund,” he added.
Nigeria plans to take a firm position at the forthcoming COP30 summit, to be hosted in Brazil to champion the course for bigger access to climate financing, Mr Edun said at the event, where a publication titled “Guide to Accessing Climate Finance” was launched.
To scale a major hurdle that has been impeding ministries and state agencies from tapping available sources for funding, the government is helping such parastatals to draft investment proposals to achieve financing goals, the minister stated.
According to him, the global community requires $5 trillion annually between now and 2030 to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), even though developing countries have been facing a decline in financial support.
“Climate change is no longer a distant threat, it’s here with us. In Makurdi, rising waters have displaced families. In Sokoto, dry soil tests the resilience of our farmers. In Lagos and other cities, floods turn our roads into rivers,” he said.
ALSO READ: COP28: Nigeria suited to attract investments from climate funds — Okonjo-Iweala
“These are not merely environmental issues, they affect how we eat, work, live, and plan our future. But within these challenges lies a major opportunity: the chance to do things differently.
“We can build infrastructure with foresight, diversify our energy systems through innovation, and create an economy that protects our people,” Mr Edun went further to say.
He noted that Nigeria is embedding climate goals into public finance management through green budgeting and also firming up existing structures to track climate finance flows and report their impact.
The minister highlighted Nigeria’s pioneering role in issuing green bonds to fund renewable energy and climate projects, while exploring credit guarantees and risk-sharing facilities to attract private capital.