…For the first time COP agrees position on phasing down unabated coal power
…Africa to benefit from Clean Transport, Adaption and Resilience, Finance and Nature based programmes
…Nigeria introduces Climate Change Bill into Law just days after COP26
On the 13th November 2021, COP26 concluded in Glasgow with nearly 200 countries agreeing the Glasgow Climate Pact to keep 1.5°C alive and finalise the outstanding elements of the Paris Agreement.
Climate negotiators ended two weeks of intense talks with consensus on urgently accelerating climate action. The Glasgow Climate Pact, combined with increased ambition and action from countries, means that the goal of limiting global temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels remains in sight, but it will only be delivered with concerted and immediate global efforts.
The Glasgow Climate Pact will speed up the pace of climate action. All countries agreed to revisit and strengthen their current emissions targets to 2030, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), in 2022. This will be combined with a yearly political roundtable to consider a global progress report and a Leaders summit in 2023.
President Muhammadu Buhari pledged that Nigeria would cut its emissions to net zero by 2060 and called on developed countries to support countries like Nigeria which require adequate and sustained technical and financial support to attain climate goals.
To demonstrate commitment to Nigeria’s international ambition and to support the implementation of Nigeria’s adaptation and mitigation measures, the President signed Nigeria’s Climate Change Bill into Law just days after COP26.
By the end of COP26:
· The UK pledged significant new funding to priority programmes on finance, adaptation and resilience, innovation and nature which Africa stands to benefit from.
· The Paris Rulebook, which are the guidelines for how the Paris Agreement will be implemented, finalised after six years of discussions. This Rulebook will now allow countries to be held to account as they deliver on their targets. This includes Article 6 of the rulebook, which establishes a robust framework for countries to exchange carbon credits through the UNFCCC.
· Agreed action on phasing down fossil fuels, heeding calls from civil society and countries most vulnerable to climate impacts
· Decisions made went further than ever before in recognising and addressing loss and damage from the existing impacts of climate change.
· There were also commitments to significantly increase financial support through the Adaptation Fund as developed countries were urged to double their support to developing countries by 2025.
· Many more countries and organisations committing to phase down unabated coal power and ending international coal financing.
The final COP26 text follows two years of intense diplomacy and campaigning undertaken by the UK Presidency to raise ambition and secure action from almost 200 countries. When the UK took on the COP26 mantle, in partnership with Italy, nearly two years ago, only 30% of the world was covered by net zero targets. This figure is now at around 90%. Over the same period, 154 Parties have submitted new national targets, representing 80% of global emissions.
Reflecting on the task ahead, COP26 President Alok Sharma said:
“We can now say with credibility that we have kept 1.5 degrees alive. But, its pulse is weak and it will only survive if we keep our promises and translate commitments into rapid action. I am grateful to the UNFCCC for working with us to deliver a successful COP26.
“From here, we must now move forward together and deliver on the expectations set out in the Glasgow Climate Pact, and close the vast gap which remains. Because as Prime Minister Mia Mottley told us at the start of this conference, for Barbados and other small island states, ‘two degrees is a death sentence’.
“It is up to all of us to sustain our lodestar of keeping 1.5 degrees within reach and to continue our efforts to get finance flowing and boost adaptation. After the collective dedication which has delivered the Glasgow Climate Pact, our work here cannot be wasted.”
Speaking also, British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing CB said:
“Nigeria is highly vulnerable to climate change and although it has been ambitious in developing adaptation and mitigation plans, these plans need to be transformed into action – by the federal and state governments working closely with local communities, civil society and other stakeholders, and with the support of development partners.
“We will continue to support Nigeria make progress on decarbonisation of the power sector and stay the course on power sector reforms, creating the enabling environment for offgrid solar at scale by, for example, removing high VAT and customs on domestic solar equipment.
“We will also continue to support efforts that will see Nigeria take action to reduce greenhouse gases such as black carbon and methane from the atmosphere by ending gas flaring as well as adopting climate smart agro-forestry and agricultural reforms as sustainable solutions for Nigeria’s people, nature and biodiversity.”
Notes to editors
· See the UNFCCC texts here.
· What COP26 delivered for Nigeria.
· Finance: Developed countries have outlined how the $100bn per year climate finance goal will be delivered by 2023 at the latest that it will continue on a rising trajectory through to 2025 and the UK committed a further $1bn taking our total to £12.6bn by 2025. This means Nigeria and other vulnerable countries can continue to access support for their national climate plans and mitigation measures.
· Adaptation: The UK pledged £290 million in new funding for adaptation and £143.5 million of programmes to support African countries to adapt to the impact of extreme weather and changing climate. The plan is to support African governments to roll-out critical adaptation projects so that at-risk communities can adapt to the impact of extreme weather and changing climates – including boosting weather forecasting and early-warning systems so people living at risk of droughts or floods can take action in advance of climate shocks. Helping vulnerable communities in Nigeria where c.70% of the population rely on agriculture and livestock for an income – to be more resilient to cope with climate shocks. And getting drought and storm insurance so that people can respond quickly when disasters strike.
· Innovation: 42 countries covering >70% of global GDP and including Nigeria endorsed the Breakthrough Agenda committing to work together, including through public-private collaboration and by mobilising finance at scale, to make the global transition to a clean economy faster, lower cost and easier for all, while making solutions to adaptation more affordable and inclusive by 2030.
· Nature: 128 countries including Nigeria, covering almost 90% of the world’s forests, committed to more urgent action to protect our land and make our agriculture and food systems more sustainable for the future. And the UK will be providing a £500m boost to protect over five million hectares of tropical rainforests and create thousands of green jobs across Africa, Asia and Latin America; and a £65m ‘Just Rural Transition’ support programme to help communities move towards more sustainable methods of agriculture and food production.
UK’s Climate Change support to Nigeria:
· The UK is working with Nigeria to build a greener economy with greater resilience to climate shocks through the use of financial, nature and community solutions.
· This includes supporting Nigeria to: improve access to reliable power; manage a transition from dependence on fossil fuels to more financially viable and cleaner energy supply; develop infrastructure which is more climate smart, higher quality, better planned and value for money; and boost the uptake of climate-smart agriculture. They include:
· Finance: Our programmes PACT/UKNIAF (Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions and Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility) have committed £1.5m of funding for a suite of advisers within the Ministries of Finance and Environment to boost the inflow of green finance into Nigeria, help green Nigeria’s infrastructure and tag potential projects, and create a climate finance and project database. Financial Sector Deepening Africa programme is supporting Nigeria on the issuance of green bonds – it has facilitated a corporate green bond in 2021 for offgrid energy (which was also a sukuk green bond). It supports Nigeria’s green bond committee.
· Energy Transition: UKNIAF is supporting Nigeria’s efforts to put more renewables on the grid. Nigeria has been actively involved in the COP26 Energy Transition Council (ETC) which aims to make clean and sustainable power the most affordable and reliable option for countries to meet their power needs efficiently and accelerate their clean energy transition – moving away from coal and other fossil fuels – while ensuring a just transition and improved energy access for all.
· Nature: Nigeria has been engaged in the COP26 Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) Dialogue and the Sustainable Agriculture Dialogues. It has endorsed both the FACT Roadmap and the Policy Action Agenda for Sustainable Agriculture. The dialogues focus on two areas of long-term action: 1) global action to protect and restore forests and critical ecosystems; 2) global transition to sustainable agriculture and land use. The challenge here will be ensuring there are sufficient financial incentives on the States to preserve forests. The UK is supporting Edo State with sustainable forestry and we are trialling the growing of rice in a way which uses less water and produces less methane in Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa.
· Adaptation and Resilience: We have supported more than 600,000 people to be more resilient to climate change in Northern Nigeria through our Propcom programme. We also support increased financial inclusion so that people can save against shocks and have enabled more than 200,000 excluded people to have access to finance through financial programmes. Our FSDA programme is advising Lagos State on flood mitigation measures.
· Transport: Lagos State endorsed the COP26 Zero Emissions Vehicles Declaration which aims to accelerate the transition to cleaner transport. UKNIAF is supporting 2 bus rapid transit systems and the Future Cities programme has supported studies for Lagos Waterways.