By Bisola Adeyemo
Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, has officially flagged off Nigeria’s Decarbonization Project (DPP) to mitigate climate change.
Ikeazor also declared open an inception workshop for the DPP in Abuja on Friday.
The Deep Decarbonization Project (DDP) is a national research and capacity building project for the implementation of a Deep Decarbonization Pathway Programme (DDPP) in Nigeria.
DDP is also a collaboration project between the Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigeria, and the Agence Française de Dévelopment (AFD) with the International Relation and Sustainable Development Institute (IDDRI) as the Programme Coordinator.
Speaking at the launching, Ikeazor said the DDP will produce competent and highly skilled long-term climate modellers in Nigeria and contribute to the development of net-zero emission development pathways in Nigeria.
The decarbonization of the global economy has long been recognised as an imperative in the fight against climate change.
However, this has assumed even greater urgency since the singing of the Paris Agreement in 2015.
She also revealed that the Federal Government of Nigeria has made several climate change interventions intended to mitigate climate change and increase resilience to avert the excruciating consequences of climate change.
“The Nigerian government’s effort to transit to a low-emission economy was also echoed in all the discussions that the Federal Government of Nigeria was involved in at the COP26,” she said.
“The Nigeria Deep Decarbonization Project is, therefore, a very important component in our effort to navigate Nigeria and the global world over the harsh and unpleasant risks of climate change. Indeed, as many here will attest, we are already being confronted with the dangerous consequences of extreme weather in recent times with huge financial stress.”
While speaking with newsmen, the AFP director said Nigeria’s DPP project is the first of its kind in West Africa with opportunity for job creation for the youths, as AFD will ensure the process of the project by providing funds.