The Federal Government has said green economy has become a veritable tool for economic growth and diversification in some countries that are not as endowed with natural resources as Nigeria.
The Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril who noted this said Nigeria’s challenge at this point is how to harness and leverage on the huge opportunities in the environment.
Speaking in Abuja on the focus of this year’s National Council for Environment, which is currently going on in Abeokuta-Ogun State with the theme, “Unlocking the Investment opportunities in the Environment sector towards Nigeria’s Economic Recovery, Diversification Growth and Sustainable Development,” he said the green economy is fulcrum of national economic advancement as it cuts across every aspects of a nation’s economy.
“With proper harnessing and leveraging on our natural resources the root of our economic recovery will be faster when we consciously support the green economy by investing in the environment sector to increase other sources of revenue in the Nigeria economy,” he said.
He said the opportunities include repositioning of the National Agency for Great Green Wall (GGW), Renewable Energy, Eco-Tourism, Green Bond, implementation of the UNEP Report among others.
While noting that the government has vigorously pursued and sensitized the Nigerian citizens towards going green and achieving toxic-free environment, the minister desired that after the meeting, the decisions reached will be such that is capable of re-engineering the sector to expand the frontiers to meaningfully contribute to a speedy economic recovery.