Ahead of third issuance of the green bond in Nigeria, stakeholders in the climate change sector have met to review the process of the previous two green bonds issued with a view to build on lessons learnt.
In his speech at the 7th meeting of the Green Bond Advisory Group held in Lagos, the Minister of Environment, Dr. Mohammad Mahmood, said the objective of the meeting was to review the current green bond process and set agenda for the third issuance relying heavily on lessons learnt from the earlier two issuances.
Giving a background to the green bond, he said Nigeria’s intention to issue the green bond was foreshadowed by its ratification of the Paris Agreement and the documented emissions reduction targets in its ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) towards addressing impacts of climate change domestically and globally.
“Since then, it has developed sectoral implementation plans, mobilized sectors to take up and explore new action for implementation. And most notably with the two issuances of the green bond to the tune of 62 million USD for financing climate smart projects in all sectors of the NDCs, government has leveraged and mobilized development partner support for achieving its conditional NDC target,” he said.
The minister added that the outcome of the ongoing implementation of projects financed from proceeds of the second issuance made the review expedient and called for larger issuances and implementation of commercial infrastructural projects that further support the nation’s commitment under the Paris Agreement.
“Nigeria is committed to an economic transformation, which places inclusive green growth at its heart. Recently, as part of efforts towards addressing the global and national climate change challenges, Nigeria engaged a spectrum of stakeholders to revise aspects of the NDC and set new achievable targets. In the updated baseline projections, GHG emissions from Nigeria in 2030 are estimated to be at 453 million tonnes CO2-eq, this represents a 2.6 per cent per year increase in total GHG emissions which is consistent with historical trends.
“Hence, the objective of this meeting to review the current Green Bond process cannot be overemphasized. There is need for larger issuances and the implementation of commercial infrastructural projects that further supports Nigeria’s endorsement of the Paris Agreement on climate change. With this, we continually pledge to put people at the centre of all we do, we heed the call of the collective global community and take concrete and courageous steps to address climate change as a matter of utmost priority and urgency,” he added.
