Key highlights
- Yemi Osinbajo has asked the NSIA to develop Nigeria’s first carbon market activation plan.
- According to the Vice President, Nigeria and other African countries should take steps to implement their energy transition without waiting for external guidance.
- Osinbajo called for a fair energy transition which will help Africa become a global green factory and power of the world.
Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has said the Carbon Vista project must go beyond a $50 million fund, even as he tasked the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) with developing Nigeria’s first carbon market activation plan.
Prof. Osinbajo stated this during the official signing ceremony of the Carbon Vista Agreement in Abuja on April 4. He said:
- “The importance of an enabling environment is crucial for Nigeria to play a global role in voluntary carbon markets. This is why I would like NSIA to take the lead in developing the first Nigeria Carbon Market Activation plan and look forward to engagement on the plan. This is such an incredible opportunity, and we must not leave it to just be a $50 million fund.”
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Carbon Vista is an initiative that aims to support Nigeria in meeting its net-zero targets by investing in carbon avoidance and removal projects.
In an email sent to Nairametrics, the office of the Vice President stated that Carbon Vista is a joint venture investment company established by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA and Vitol (a multinational energy and commodities company).
Both parties are committing an initial sum of $50 million for climate-smart agriculture, green industrial technologies, and waste management, across Nigeria’s agriculture, energy, and manufacturing.
Africa’s energy transition must be fair
According to Prof. Osinbajo, Africa’s energy transition must be a fair one, and fossil fuel is still required for several purposes. We are the lowest emitters today, and if we are going to develop our industry for the rest of the world, we can start from where we are today, we don’t have to start from where the rest of the world is, especially the global North. He said:
- “If we are the least emitters and able to use green energy effectively, we can use the young population that we have, we can effectively deploy green manufacturing on a scale that would be required to become the global green factory and power of the world, we can indeed do something revolutionary and different.
- “This is why what we are seeing today, this sort of collaboration between NSIA and Vitol is an important one because the pipeline of projects they are talking about are the sorts of projects that will make us a truly green economy and can cause us to realize that dream we are talking about.”
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NSIA, Mr Aminu Umar-Sadiq, said that over the next few months, the NSIA will roll out projects to set the standard for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investment in Nigeria. He said:
- “Beyond Carbon Vista, NSIA is working closely with the National Council on Climate Change, as well as the Africa Carbon Market Initiative, to support in the development of the carbon market both on a national and continental level thus promoting sustainable investments by incentivizing projects that reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions.
- “These collaborations will facilitate the development and integration of Nigeria’s carbon market with the broader African carbon market, thus creating efficient carbon trading systems and unlocking the economic potential of sustainable development in Africa.”