The Chief Executive Officer and Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (UN SRSG) for Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll), Ms. Damilola Ogunbiyi, has said that G-20 countries should be held accountable for environmental pollution amid ongoing global stakeholders’ collective drive towards zero gas emissions by 2070.
Ogunbiyi made this remark late Wednesday while addressing the issue of carbon tax, during an interview with Christiane Amanpour on CNN
According to her, no one should be allowed to continue to pollute the environment in view of the net zero gas emission goal set to be achieved by all in the global community.
The UN Secretary-General’s representative said: “I think it is really important that the nations that pollute do pay for it, it is paramount that you also need this financing to finance development and climate solutions. So, I don’t think that anybody should be let off to continue polluting.
“We all know we have a net zero target but if you continuously pollute, then I think that the G-20 countries should be held to account, and we will see how transparent we can ensure that these funds that are needed in Africa will be used for development and climate-friendly projects.”
On a question by Amanpour on what it says about Africa being a part of the solution to climate challenges and not a victim when major resource-rich countries like Nigeria, Egypt, Congo and South Africa were absent during the Africa Climate Summit, Ogunbiyi said that although the Heads of State of the countries were absent but that their ministers attended the summit.
She explained: “The Ministers were in the room, and Nigeria does have an energy transition plan and the former president (Muhammadu Buhari) has set the year 2060 for net zero. This will take a lot because this is the number one country with the energy access issue, so one of the things that was recognized here is that it is also a development issue.
“Apart from transitioning, it is also important to note that there are 600 million people on the continent with no access to electricity and over 900 million people without access to clean cooking. So, it is important that we leave no one behind”, UN Secretary-General’s representative added.
It would be recalled that at the just concluded African Climate Summit, the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said that Africa can be a renewable energy superpower, stressing that now is the time to bring together African countries with developed countries, financial institutions and technology companies to create a true African Renewable Energy Alliance.
In her remarks, the President of the European Union Commission (EUC), Ursula von der Leyen, said that public funding from major economies though very important in addressing the climate change challenge, there was still the need to bring the conversation on climate financing to the global stage at COP28.
Leyen explained that in order to improve the current level of financing, the conversation needed to extend from public financing to attracting private investment to Africa, as well as carbon pricing and carbon credits.
