The Federal Government (FG) has blamed the country’s ongoing deforestation on powerful subnational interests that protect loggers in the charcoal production business.
Mohammed Abdulahi, the Minister of Environment, announced this during the 69th weekly Ministerial weekly briefing at the State House on Thursday.
Mr Abdullahi stated that the task force established to combat the long-standing threat of tree felling for charcoal has encountered difficulties in enforcement, revealing that they frequently face pushback at the subnational level on the grounds that the trees belong to the states.
The UK Government had previously requested that the Federal Government prioritize tackling deforestation in order to reduce climate emissions.
As a result, the President promised that the country is committed to addressing the threat, which is having a wide-ranging impact on the country’s efforts to transition away from fossil fuels and achieve net-zero emissions by 2060.
Net-zero emissions
BizWatch Nigeria recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari on November 2021 declared that Nigeria aimed to achieve net-zero emission by 2060 through its Energy Transition Plan.
This is contrary to the 2050 deadline set by the United Nations (UN) as part of the Paris Agreement Nigerian signed in 2017.
Buhari said this while speaking at the high-level segment for Heads of State and Government at the ongoing 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Glasgow, Scotland.
This is just as American billionaire and founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, has commended Buhari’s leadership role in restoring degraded lands in the country.
President Buhari’s speech highlighted Nigeria’s key priorities and actions to tackle climate change as well as progress on the country’s transition to low-carbon economy, consistent with achieving the Paris Climate Agreement.
He said, “Nigeria is committed to net-zero by 2060.”
