By Abbati Bako,Political Strategy,Communication Consultant
COP29: the 29th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, is currently underway in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11 to 22, 2024. While what’s expected from the conference are as follows:
*Key Focus Areas:
1. Finance:
Securing trillions of dollars to support countries in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting lives and livelihoods from climate change.
2. National Climate Action Plans:
Countries are expected to present updated plans under the Paris Agreement, aiming to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
3. Sustainable Development Goals.
Advancing the SDGs through climate action and investment.
4. Human Rights Concerns.
There are concerns about Azerbaijan’s human rights record, particularly the imprisonment of government critics, journalists, and human rights defenders. The European Union has been urged to raise these issues with the Azerbaijani authorities during COP29.
*The analysis of the situation:
Not all the people around the globe know the importance of taking appropriate measures to tackle the problems of global climate change. But experts argue that if measures are not taken to tackle global environmental degradation the possibility of the earth ‘s planet to be safely habitable for future generations will be a mirage. If measures are not taken this planet can break up unexpectedly and the fault and blame will be more on the side of scientists not global politicians and policy makers. It’s the responsibility of global scientists to educate and enlighten the global policy makers in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere of the world. Scientific information is the key in the entire problem.
Historical perspective:
For example an important Conference took place at Copenhagen between December 7th to 18th 2009. This is yet another move by the UN and NGOs to address the issue of environmental change. This and similar conferences on climate change are being made to save planet earth from degradation. Climate change threatens our lives, our environment, the global economy and the future generations.
It’s always very good news when the international community gathers together to address a particular important problem such as climate change. At the Copenhagen climate change conference, it is imperative for nations of the world to swing into action; climate change is no longer an assumption or prediction, it is here with us. Hence, climate change must be tackled with seriousness.
Even some weeks ago dozens of people passed away or perished as a result of heat waves in India and floods in Spain, USA, Nigeria and other nations. This is the kind of bad climate that is changing the world from safe and good living to the perilous condition of human life due to environmental degradation.
According to Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the earth institute Columbia University opined that “We can only marvel at the disarray. Here we are; years after the signing of the United Nations (UN) framework convention on climate change, two years after the decision in Bali to agree a new climate policy, one year after Barack Obama’s election and days out from the Copenhagen conference. Yet real global strategy to avoid catastrophe remain elusive”. This means that even advanced nations are not making efforts to ensure that climate change has been tackle with seriousness.
The climate change convention agenda sets an overall “framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. The conference enjoys universal acceptance with membership of 192 countries including Nigeria endorsed. It is proved by scientists that, “climate system is a shared resource” of which its atmospheric stability will be severely affected by industrial and other emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses.
The Cop29 conference (Baku Azerbaijan) gathered with the view of sharing burden and information between nations, political decision makers, international organizations and scientists to find lasting solutions, best policies and practices on reducing greenhouse gas emission and other ways that contribute to deteriorating the atmospheric condition of the planet earth.
The good news came out from some of the industrialized nations. Former US President Barack Obama “offered a 2020 and 2050 target on emission reduction”.
And China promised a 17% reduction in “carbon intensity of the economy”.
Also one of the emerging industrialized nation (India) offered hope that former Prime Minister Singh says “India is willing to sign on to an ambitious global target for emission reduction or limiting temperature increase if it’s accompanied by an equitable burden-sharing paradigm” and again the current Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi is still in support of that.
In his opening remark in one of the past conferences the Danish Prime Minister observed “the climate change agenda created global communities across all barriers. We need this global momentum. And we need to build on it. Let’s not focus on what divides us, but let’s focus on what bring us together”.
This research paper understands that the world is uniting under the umbrella of UN and NGOs taking decisive actions on climate change. Saving planet earth from hazardous consequences is a duty that every citizen of the planet earth should contribute to its course.
In his contributions in one of the conference the former UN Secretary General Banki- Moon once says “we have a deal, after a climate conference in Copenhagen to recognize the political accord brokered by President Obama with China and other emerging powers”.
The President of that conference Mr. Macie Nowicki highlighted that, “as indicated in the Bali action plan, this conference should set out the direction of fighting climate change for several decades. Countries with substantial emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses should take specific commitments to reduce such emission”.
At this point many observers viewed that the Copenhagen conference has not reached a concrete result in binding the treaty. Because some of the leaders announced that the talk will only serve as a step forward in reaching agreement in the near future. The problem with world leaders and political decision makers is who will sacrifice the issue of his country’s economy and his domestic political popularity?
Can President of Nigeria Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu sacrifice his political ambition of 2027 on the issue of climate change with a view to save Nigeria and the planet earth? This research understands that this question can only be answered by His Excellence Bola Tunubu.
But on the other hand what history will tell future generations? It’s absolutely necessary to address the issue of climate change to avoid blame from the future generations of this planet; global leaders and International Public Policy Makers must preserve the planet for the yet unborn. Otherwise they will blame the current global leadership for not doing well to protect the planet earth for them to live.
Conclusively, this is the kind of job well done that has been done by my country (Nigeria) and the entire world by doing research to find solutions to global problems. President of America Mr. Joe Biden must cooperate with global scientists with a view to find solutions to the problems of climate change within this planet earth. By doing that global economic interplay will be boosted for the benefits of both advanced nations and emerging nations as well.
*Global Economic Interplay And Nigeria As Well as Other Global Continents———
Political economy experts assert that there exists an imbalance in the global economy. There are 8.3 Billion human beings (UN 2023 ) on earth, but 70-75% do not have a viable economy; whether as individuals or collectively as nations or continents, especially the southern part of the globe (Asia, Africa and Latin America).
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In Nigeria for example, 80% of a nation’s wealth belongs to only 1% of the population and the remaining 20% belongs to 99% of the country’s population (Research in UK in 2007). This assertion must have been as a result of mismanagement by the previous regimes; especially during the military era and lack of serialize strategic planning based on calendar time frame that will be possible for Nigeria to be amongst the top 20 or even 30 economic emerging nations. Although the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria Mr. Yufuf Tuggar has said that the country has joined both G20 and BRICS Nations recently. This is a very welcome development for the nation of Nigeria.
And again, here comes another health global pandemic of covid-19 that terrorizes global economic interplay and dwarfs the global economy. The nations of the world lost about $5T as a result of the pandemic.
Even advanced global economies such as USA, China, Japan, Germany, France, UK, Brazil, India and the result has been badly affected. Talk less of emerging economies like Nigeria and other South-South nations of Africa, Latin America and Asia. In the last four years; economic activities were in doom globally due to COVID-19 and still the global economy seems to be in tatters.
*Why the economy in Africa is in precarity:
Are there any laws or policies which insist that world development and a viable economy must come from the northern part of the world to the southern part of the world? Or is there any rule or law that insists development must come from the Northern part to the Southern part of the World?
For example, 80% of global economies belongs to G20 nations with only 58% of the world’s population and George Friedman observed that “USA possesses 26% of global GDP with only 4% of global population” and again 25% of the world economy belongs to EU nations too; then the rest of the 20% belongs to about 200 nations and about 450 oceanic nations and more. The estimated global capital of $90 trillion or 60 trillion pounds; or $360 trillion “derivatives or repackage securities and other financial assets play an important role in international finance and they have contributed to the complexity and the instability of international finance. It is obvious that international finance has a profound impact on the global economy (R.Gilpin, 2001). It is estimated, for example, that Africa south of the Sahara accounts for only about 1 percent of total world trade in the early 1990s. Although the African Development Bank (ADB) asserts that the African GDP has risen up to 2% this means that the economy is improving in Africa. Especially in Rwanda, Ghana, Algeria, Nigeria and S/Africa.
Second example is the foreign direct investments (FDI) that has been in existence among nations of the world for hundreds of years but “in the early 1990s Singapore benefited more from FDI than the entire African continent. It should be mentioned here that the share of FDI flowing into Africa has not been even in all countries. Egypt and Nigeria have received a lion’s share of FDI flowing into the region in terms of absolute size. The share has however declined from more than 67% in 1983-87 to 54% in 1988-1992 and 38% in 1993-1997. Looking into figure for FDI inflow into Africa as a whole it is clear that its global share is by all standards very low. This share needs to be increased given the potential positive roles that FDI can play in the continent’s development” (Tatah Mentan, 2007).
*President Bola Tunubu’s visit to India:
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must be commended for his efforts to meet with one of the richest men in India and the owner of big companies in India.
President Bola Tinubu has started a meeting with an investor in India as part of his official visit to the country ahead of the G20 Summit on Saturday and Sunday.
The president met with Prakash Hinduja, chairman and CEO of the Hinduja Group of Companies, a conglomerate with a total asset portfolio exceeding 100 billion U.S. Dollars. The president received the industrialist within 90 minutes of his arrival in India. This is a very fantastic idea for Nigeria.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu accompanied by Nigeria’s ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Tinubu “said he was in India with a focus to better Nigeria’s economic fortunes.
He said that Nigeria intends to attract investments with lucrative opportunities, jobs for its citizens and new revenue opportunities for the federal and sub-national governments”.
“We are here for business. I am here to personally assure our friends and investors that there is no bottleneck that I will not break. Nigeria will become one of the most conducive places on earth to make good profits and create lasting jobs for Nigerians as well as the Indian nation.
‘’With my support, there is nothing standing in your way of enjoying the unrivaled opportunities presented by our massive market and the ingenious, and hardworking nature of the Nigerian people. We are open for business,” the president Bola Tunubu said.
“The Hinduja Group chairman told the president that he was a living witness to his landmark effort as Governor of Lagos in turning a coastal erosion and water encroachment crisis into a massive free trade zone where industry now thrives.
This, he said, was partially responsible for his excitement to partner with Nigeria’s President to create a win-win prosperity for Nigeria’s talented population.
“We believe in you as a leader who has done this before. You know what the challenges are. You know how to fix them.
“We are going to make investments into the billions of dollars under your leadership, because we see you are already addressing the systemic problems. I am ready now to sign an MoU and to begin execution.
“You tell me who to liaise with, and we will get to work immediately, particularly with respect to bus and automobile manufacturing in Nigeria, amongst other areas. “I have had paperwork stalled in the Nigerian bureaucracy for over one year, especially in FCT.
“But I knew that you would be purpose driven in this endeavor and God will help you to turn Nigeria’s rich promise into a rich reality for all of its citizens,” Mr Hinduja has said to Bola Tunubu. The president directed thus: “Ministers of Trade and Finance, the two of you will follow this up immediately, and you will draw up the terms to the satisfaction of both parties.
”If there are any issues at all that require my intervention, they must be brought to my attention immediately.” After the president assigned the task of concluding the agreement to the two ministers in collaboration with Hinduja Group Executives, who were present in the room.
The president concluded that his task of making Nigeria great could only be achieved through teamwork and not in isolation. He added that when his investors are happy, Nigerians would rejoice by partaking in an inclusive economy where hard work is rewarded and excellence becomes the reputation of the nation.
*Global Economic Interplay And Nigeria As One Of The Largest Market In The World:
The third example is the replica of the total amount of daily trades and services world over. It has been estimated that the sum of “$1.08 trillion of shares is being traded every 24 hours globally” (The Globalization of World Politics, USA, 2008/2020 editions).
But one may ask; how much do the developing nations, especially nations of the southern part of the world, contribute to and benefit from their efforts and resources? There is a need to know and remember that about 34% of global resources are deposited in the African Continent.
Professor George Friedman again observed that “Americans constitute about 4 percent of the world’s population but produce 26 percent of all goods and services. In 2007 U.S gross domestic product (GDP) was about $14 trillion, compared to the world’s GDP of $54 trillion
(“Barack Obama and Gordon Brown both opined it was $90trillion 2008/ 2020”) about 26 percent of the world’s economic activity takes place in the United States. The American economy is so huge that it is larger than the economies of the next four countries combined: Japan, Germany, China and the United Kingdom.”
At this point those African leaders and indeed all leaders of South-South world should take measures that will ensure the transfer of technology to the southern part of the world; especially Africa where the economic imbalance is too huge due to lack of manufacturing of sophisticated scientific and technological products that have the capacity of boosting the economy of the Continent.
On the other hand, the world economic power should rethink about investment in Africa and other South-South Nations. This research subscribe to the view of political economy Professor of the Oxford University, London, (Paul Collier, “The Bottom Billion, 2009,London”) on four key issues that restrict the African continent from developing: “bad governance, conflict, trapped resources and landlock”. And to the view of this writing again; the unproductive population in the continent is a plus to poor economic performance. Hence, African leaders must rethink on the right measures and strategies to boost the economy of this resourceful Continent.
*Can joining BRICS NATIONS be the solution to Nigeria and other South South Nations? Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Argentina have been admitted; can that change the global economic direction? Can Yuan currency challenge the dominance of global Dollarization since the end of the Second World War? Can BRICS+ and the new “World Development Bank” be a rival to the World Bank/IMF?
In view of that, the world economic policy makers must re-consider the economic prescription of South-South nations, particularly “Washington Consensus”. “Why not the Beijing Consensus”? Even policy makers insist on the Washington Consensus this writing views that the policy must be redesigned for the emerging nations.
The world economic imbalance is the causative agent of terrorism, conflict, war, criminality, corruption, military junta taking over power from civilian and banditry especially in Nigeria and other economic emerging nations of Africa.
*Nigeria and Global Conversion to Green Energy and climate change and economic development: which way for Nigeria and other South South emerging markets?
Dr. Abbati Bako,Political Strategy and Communication Consultant, IPRC Nigeria and researcher in International Politics@Skyline University and Treasurer Kano Chamber of Commerce, Nigeria
