The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), the manager of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund and the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in furtherance of the collective efforts to mitigate climate change impacts on the country.
The MoU, which was signed by the NSIA’s Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Aminu Umar-Sadiq, and the Director-General of the NCCC, Dr. Salisu Dahiru, harped on the urgency of immediate and ambitious action to address climate risks and enables the attainment of the shared objectives between the NSIA and NCCC in the interest of the country.
The deal also provided the two partners opportunities to further explore potential areas of collaboration which include the development of a climate change framework to provide guidelines for regulating emissions in Nigeria, the implementation of a carbon emissions trading mechanism in the country, and the management of a national carbon registry as well as a Climate Change Fund.
As part of the agreement signing ceremony, the NSIA released its Impact Report (IR), which outlined the progress made so far by it in its sustained efforts towards the attainment of its developmental and socio-economic impact as of 2021.
Speaking about the agreement, the NSIA CEO said: “A core pillar of our Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) strategy is to actively build strategic partnerships with relevant organizations to support climate change actions and Nigeria’s energy transition ambitions of achieving net zero emissions by 2060.
“The agreement with our partner, NCCC is one of the strategic steps we are taking to meet our social impact goals and sustainability commitments”, Umar-Sadiq added.
He further explained that “NSIA’s maiden Impact Report highlights the authority’s development agenda and impact over several years of operations as well as its efforts to safeguard the environment and address relevant climate-related risks and opportunities in line best practice.
In his remarks at the forum, the Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), Dr. Salisu Dahiru, described the Council’s collaboration with the NSIA as a clear demonstration of the Federal Government’s commitment to climate change drive and expressed optimism that the partnership would impact positively on the nation’s funding and other required needs mobilization.
He explained: “This partnership is a bold signal to the global audience that the Government of Nigeria is serious about its climate commitments. By committing resources from its sovereign wealth fund to support climate action and an inclusive green economic growth, Nigeria is investing in its future, especially in a vastly decarbonizing world.
“This partnership between two of Nigeria’s flagship institutions is expected to catalyze private finance to accelerate Nigeria’s ambitious climate and national development agenda”, Dahiru added.
The commended President Muhammadu Buhari for demonstrating executive ownership of Nigeria’s climate policies through the signing of the Climate Change Act of 2021, the establishment of the NCCC and the government’s commitment toward a net zero economy by 2060.
He appealed to Nigerians to embrace the opportunities offered by climate change to build a resilient economy and improve the adaptive capacities of the nation’s communities to extreme weather events, now and in the future.
