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Buhari: African countries must address climate change

President Muhammadu Buhari has said African countries must continue to explore various measures to combat climate change, desertification while also addressing food insecurity and poverty…

President Muhammadu Buhari has said African countries must continue to explore various measures to combat climate change, desertification while also addressing food insecurity and poverty across the continent.

The President said this Thursday at the 8th Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers of Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall (PAGGW) being hosted by Nigeria in Abuja.

The speech, according to a presidential spokesman, Laolu Akande, was delivered on behalf of President Buhari by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the conference.

Buhari said the ambitious African Union’s Great Green Wall initiative now had a variety of sustainable land use practices designed to combat not only climate change and desertification but also address food insecurity and poverty.

He said the country’s “energy transition plan focuses on how to creatively transit to net zero emissions by 2060 and at the same time increases access to power and high agricultural and industrial output.”

The President, while noting the receding Lake Chad due to the effects of climate change, said if this major challenge was not addressed urgently, “fishing, dry season farming and all other associated value chain benefits are lost or greatly reduced.”

He urged synergy among African countries in addressing these existential and other associated challenges.

Buhari, who commended the current initiatives by the international technical and financial partners for pledging financial resources to support the implementation of the Great Green Wall Initiative, urged for financing to help preserve African rain forests which he said absorb no less than 1.5 billion tons of CO2 yearly.

He added that the commitment of every nation will be important in meeting the deadline of the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration Agenda.

“The early disbursement of the pledged resources without stringent conditionalities would indeed see the transformation of our degraded ecosystems.”

“I have, in my capacity as the President of the Conference of Heads of States and Government of Member States, directed the Honourable Minister of Finance of Nigeria to lead the Initiative to access the funds pledged by our Partners under the Great Green Wall Accelerator.

The Minister will take appropriate States in line with the understanding we had at the Abidjan side meeting held on 9th May, 2022,” he added.

Also, the President, on behalf of the Nigeria government, and in fulfillment of Nigeria’s pledge to support the PAGGW, also stated that he has directed the Federal Ministry of Environment to coordinate the release of some vehicles for the use of the Pan African Agency of the Great Green Wall (PAGGW) Secretariat and Allied Agencies.

“Having also fulfilled the payment of our outstanding contribution of about $654,291 only, I am also glad to pledge the sum of $550,000 only as our contribution to the building of the Great Green Wall Secretariat. I call on other member countries to follow suit by contributing towards the building of a befitting office for the PAGGW.”

After declaring open the Session, the Vice President proceeded to flag-off the 2022 Tree Planting Campaign, calling on States Governments to “replicate the same across their various States so that Nigeria can meet its pledge of planting 25 million trees in the next 2 years.”

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