Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that for Nigeria to reach net-zero emission by 2050, there would need to be an end to energy poverty by 2030.
Osinbajo said this at the High-Level United Nations in London on Friday, noting that the country must improve its electricity scale and quantity.
He was quoted by his spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement, saying, this “means building sustainability into our economic planning, and so our Economic Sustainability Plan, includes a plan to provide 5 million homes with cleaner energy through its decentralized solar power programme. This means an estimated 25 million Nigerians would have access to solar power.
“The first phase of this plan is already underway, and we think that this sort of programme will very quickly ramp up our progress towards net-zero emissions.
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“Limiting the development of gas projects, poses dire challenges for African nations, while making an insignificant dent in global emissions. Energy demand in Nigeria and across Africa is set to rise, as indeed it must, to deliver the industrialization, jobs and economy-wide progress people deserve.
“Energy consumption in developing countries has doubled in the last 15 years, and is expected to grow another 30 per cent in the next fifteen years. So making capital available to fulfil the growing energy demand in these regions of the world is central to reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement.
“While representing just 15% of the world’s population, high-income countries received 40 per cent of global energy investment in 2018. Conversely, developing countries with 40 per cent of the world’s population received just 15 per cent of global energy investments.
“Efforts are already underway in my country, and in countries across the continent, to include large shares of clean energy sources to fuel that growth. Renewables are the fastest-growing segment of energy today and will certainly be a key economic driver well into the future.”
