A team of climate change experts under the auspices of the Glasgow Action Team, has demanded a change in action and composition of the leadership of the World Bank’s investment in Carbon Capture in Nigeria.
They spoke on Tuesday during a virtual meeting as part of activities commemorating the 2022 World Habitat Day.
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The trio of climate activists Jonah Gbemre, Murphy Akiri and Jake Hess who jointly addressed the virtual press conference, said that it is important that the world sustained its call for system change at the World Bank, especially on climate change.
Daily Trust reports that the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP27, would be held from 6 to 18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
“The World Bank’s failure to tackle climate change is the latest challenge where the Bank has come short and failed to deliver for low-income countries. Since the Paris Agreement, the World Bank has provided $12bn in direct project finance to fossil fuels projects in 35 countries, more than any other multilateral development bank.”
In Nigeria, the experts said the Bank has announced funding for Carbon Capture and Storage, “a controversial and unproven technology that claims to store carbon underground, to ‘help Nigeria reach its emissions targets’, despite criticisms that this techno-fix reinforces fossil fuel dependence.”
They also noted that Nigeria, as a major oil producer, wants to prolong the status quo as much as possible.
They recommended that a future and fit World Bank must genuinely help to reduce carbon emissions by shifting financing from fossil fuels to renewables.
