Climate Change Not Nigeria’s Priority – Delegate
No commentsMr Muhammed Barkindo, one of Nigeria’s delegates to the UN climate change talks in the Polish city of Poznan, said on Friday that tackling climate change was not among the country’s top priorities.
By Michael Simire
Barkindo told a team of Nigerian reporters covering the talks that reducing poverty and providing three square meals a day to Nigerians were among the government’s top priorities.
“The climate change we are talking about now is as a result of the historic emissions of the developed countries, not Niger Delta emissions nor China’s emissions,’’ he said.
Therefore the responsibility of tackling the impact rested on the industrialised countries that were responsible.
He said that though Nigeria was going to be greatly affected by climate change, some of the developed countries’ current policies and measures were themselves able to damage Nigeria’s economy and development.
“The Kyoto Protocol and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change are not favourable to us as a country”, he said.
“In all the energy policies being discussed and pursued by the industrialised countries, the aim is to reduce emissions significantly by reducing their dependence on fossil fuel and promoting renewable energy options.
“Nigeria as an oil- and gas-dependent nation that relies on its production and exports to the rest of the world will be affected negatively, because when the demand for fossil fuel contracts as a result of their policy, the economy of Nigeria will be at the receiving end,’’ he said.
Barkindo, coordinator of special projects at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said that all the conventions and protocols had identified what would befall Nigeria and other developing countries. So they had argued for an adaptation fund to cushion the effects.
“Several articles in the climate convention have called for the compensation of countries like Nigeria, not directly but through the provision of financial resources, the leverage of technology, through capacity-building and diversification of the economy in order to pursue carbon-neutral growth,’’ he said.
He added that the development of Nigeria was currently tied to the consumption of fuels that emit greenhouse gases (GHG).
“If they can provide financial resources and technology for us to diversify our economy, then we will be able to pursue a cleaner development that is disconnected from energy intensity and carbon oxide emissions,’’ he said.
