Green Economy in Nigeria gets a Boost from the India-UN Fund

On 17th December, 2018, the Indian-UN Development Partnership Fund Board, approved US $1 million, to fund a project ‘Biodiversity Business in Omo and Shere Hill: A Means to Poverty Reduction, Biodiversity, Conservation and Sustainable Development’, proposed by the Nigerian Government.

Established in 2017, the Indian-UN Development Partnership Fund, is managed by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, and supported and led by the Indian Government. It is part of the United Nations efforts to further advance sustainable development and poverty alleviation in the South-South. The Biodiversity Business in Omo and Shere Hill project is a joint initiative between UNESCO, the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Environment, the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, and the Nigerian National Committee for Man and the Biosphere.

The OMO Biosphere Reserve, located in Ijebu, a town in Ogun State, South-West, Nigeria, is home to a tropical humid forest and agricultural lands, with over 5000 inhabitants. While Shere Hills, located in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, is 35,000 hectares of undulating hills. The main objective of this project, is to boost green economy in these regions, to help lift the people out of poverty in an environmentally friendly way and also impact the economy positively and significantly.

Green economy conceptualizes an economic growth that is devoid of environmental degradation. The World Bank defines it as a “growth that is efficient in its use of natural resources, clean in that it minimizes pollution and environmental impacts, and resilient in that it accounts for natural hazards and the role of environmental management and natural capital in preventing physical disasters. And this growth needs to be inclusive.” Additionally, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) describes green economy as “one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.”

In recent times, Nigeria has begun intensifying efforts to diversify its economy by enacting environmental laws and implementing economic growth policies that are environmental friendly. Momentum has been mounting to go green, following the series of economic recession that has hit the country due to its high dependency on crude oil and the subsequent crash of oil prices. “The oil sector provides for 95% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings and 80% of its budgetary revenues” . Aside this, Nigeria’s main sources of electricity are natural gas and hydro which are prone to causing huge environmental hazards.

During the 11th National Stakeholders Forum of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) tagged ‘Environmental Governance: A Key to Achieving Green Economy’, the stakeholders emphasized the needs and reasons why the country should go green. The Senate Committee Chairman on Environment, Senator Oluremi Tinubu through her representative – Vice Chairman of the committee, Senator Foster Ogola, stated that “when we are discussing the environment there has to be legislation on ensuring all industries in Nigeria are running on green fuel, solar energy and other alternative systems.”

Even though Nigeria is yet to have a committed green growth plan, it has endorsed and carried out several green projects.

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