By Emmanuel Nduka
Government of the United States has signed various agreements with Nigeria’s Ministries of Environment, Petroleum Resources, and Agriculture and Rural Development on measures to mitigate the crisis posed by climate change in Nigeria and globally.
US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, led a delegation from his country to different ministries in Abuja on Tuesday.
The delegation engaged with Nigerian Government officials led by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, on ways to strengthen climate action and the upcoming 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Kerry stated that Nigeria is one of the nations in Africa that would suffer the most by climate crisis if nothing serious is done to avert the consequences of climate change.
He also noted that the country, alongside others, would benefit from $12bn for climate action by the United States’ Government.
“Nigeria is one of the countries in Africa that would suffer the most from the consequences of the climate crisis.
“So, I’m here not to say to Nigeria, you are emitting too much. I’m here to say that what you decide to do in the future, going forward, will have a profound impact on the choices of all countries in Africa,” he said.
Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Engr. Simbi Wabote and Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, were among top Government officials that received the US delegation.