How UK is helping Nigeria curb climate change — Official

Sean Melbourne is the Head for Climate Change and Energy, West Africa, at the Foreign CommonWealth and Development Offices of the British High Commission Abuja. In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES, he speaks on Nigeria’s capacity to mitigate climate change as stated in the Contribution determined by the National Government (NDC) document submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) last year, the issue of dirty fuel, the state of the country’s rich biodiversity and how the United Kingdom government is partnering the Nigerian government to achieve green development.

Mr Melbourne believes Nigeria is on track with its climate change commitments and that Nigeria can reduce dirty fuel imports if it has the capability to refine crude oil efficiently.

Excerpts:

PT. In your opinion, in what way is the UK helping Nigeria with climate change mitigation and the commitment to reduce carbon emission?

Melbourne:I would say that our relationship with Nigeria is close and growing on many issues, especially in relation to climate change and other environmental issues. We warmly welcomed the submission of Nigeria’s enhanced National Determined Contribution (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in July last year, which was widely praised by independent experts. So Nigeria is at least doing its part to combat climate change. We also welcomed the net-zero commitment by His Excellency President Buhari made at 26 COP. The publication of his energy transformation plan serves as a vision for a low carbon future economy. The most important aspect is the sentiment that the President gave to Climate Change Act shortly before Cop 26, which should help mainstream environmental and climate considerations in national policy. It is a clear signal of intent. These things, including the NDC 2030 Climate Change Act, are something that must be maintained for decades. But nonetheless, Nigeria is playing its role, and that’s really, really important, because as the giant of Africa, it is the biggest economy and the biggest population. Nigeria, I think, is setting an example and I think it’s done that in recent months with those steps mentioned above .

PT. It is one thing for a law to be passed and signed by the president. Implementing such laws can be a different matter. Is this something that you believe we will achieve?

Melbourne: I hope so. Accordingly, Nigeria has pledged to a 20% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and a 20% reduction of emissions by 2020. It will either use its own resources or divert resources in order to make this happen. There’s a bigger target of 47 per cent . But this is dependent, and quite rightly so, on Nigeria receiving international support, whether from the public or private sector, to increase climate financing and enable it reach higher goals. It is therefore important to work more closely with Nigeria in the coming years and for the next critical decades. Scientists have indicated that this is the only decade where the UK is willing to support Nigeria in its pursuit of climate ambition. We will.

PT: As of now, in specific terms, to what extent is the UK playing that “assisting” role?

Melbourne:So I mentioned that Nigeria is a country with a strengthened NDC. Comprehensive that’s backed up by better data. It also added the water and waste sectors for the first. It is not known that the UK is sponsoring the NDC facilitator at the environment ministry. This facilitator’s job is to coordinate all the ministries and agencies that contribute greenhouse gas emissions. Getting them to participate, to submit their sectoral action plans, and also coordinating the donors so that the donors aren’t you know, duplicating each other is complementarity. And they help put together this composite comprehensive NDC, which, I mean, I will say it’s good, but it doesn’t matter.

I will say that independent analysts such as the climate action tracker agree that this is a good NDC. Alok Sharma states that this is the year for implementation. Cop 26 received many promises. If that happens, we will be able to limit global warming to below two degrees, and hopefully below 1.5. But it takes a strong will to achieve that. Now is the year to implement, even for Nigeria.

So it was a pleasure to see the Honourable Secretary of State at the end January outline her vision for the ministry as well as the federal government in general regarding how they will tackle climate change and biodiversity loss. The media, along with various MDAs and international donors, were present. So it’s great, that vision has been set down, that now we need to crack on, we need to get the investments. Importantly, this money needs to reach the grassroots. And it’s not just a question of the government, you know, the government needs to do this, and the government needs to do that. It’s also a question of harnessing the power of business and civil society. So that’s what needs to happen. I’m sure it will over the coming months or years.

PT: Are there any climate-friendly projects that are currently being implemented by your Commission in Nigeria?

Melbourne: Yeah, I mean, we’ve got numerous projects. There’s two projects, I think we’re mentioning this programme called UK Pact. That’s the name of the programme. And that’s our flagship mitigation programme. It was launched in Nigeria last year. It supports initiatives that promote nature-based solutions to climate changes, including protecting nature and biodiversity, and energy efficiency. There’s another programme that is also a standout programme. It’s called Propcom Mai-Karfi. And that’s an eight-year rural agriculture market development programme. The programme has helped more than 700,000. It also helps people adapt to climate change. The programme includes, for instance, solar drying and solar irrigation-enabled cookstoves, plastic waste management and recycling commercial agroforestry. This is a standout program, but there are many others. Supporting solar home systems in Nigeria, for example.

PT: Name the states in which these programs are being implemented.

Melbourne:The following programme is mainly part of the UK Pact programme. It is active in seven states around Nigeria geographically, including FCT. Some programmes have a dual focus, like the agricultural programme I just mentioned. Others are more general. So and perhaps it’s worth mentioning that we hope to start a programme very soon in Lagos, the urban climate action programme that’s focused on the city and it’s basically a climate mitigation programme. Lagos is one of the four African cities that will be piloting this program. So again, it’s nice to see you know, Lagos in a pioneering sense, contributing to the fight.

PT: Is the Lagos Project starting soon?

Melbourne: Yes. It should begin in this year. The business case has been approved. We’re working out the details, but the announcement has already been made. It was actually announced at COP 26.

PT: So with these programmes and the existing ones you’ve mentioned, are there specific amounts that the UK government pushed into the programme? What are the implementing Ministries of these programs? Or are they being implemented by officials from the UK in your embassy?

Melbourne: Yeah, it’s a good question. I mean, Nigeria has a Federal System. As we have seen, we work in close collaboration with Nigeria’s federal government. But also we can’t forget the states and how important they are, for example, they allocate land, I understand. We need to work with the states and some of these natural-based solutions, contracts, and agricultural projects. We do a combination of both. I think there’s another thing worth mentioning, as well. There’s the federal and state governments, there’s the executive, but there’s also the National Assembly, I think, also can play a critical role in holding the government to account for speeding up climate change. Where is Nigerian taxpayers money going, where’s our oil revenue going? The UK government provided some technical advice and assistance to the Climate Change Act. However, this was only a small but crucial part of the overall scheme.

During its development, we received feedback that said this was very, very important. We shared our experiences with the UK Climate Change Act in 2008, which demonstrated how it could boost low carbon development, green jobs and so on. We want to continue the work of the UK and show how that can be translated in Nigeria. So the minister, Honourable Ministry of Environment, says that there is no time to waste and that the Act must be implemented. Now, It’s been passed. That’s all very well. We are now looking to provide support to make sure that some of the key provisions are actually implemented. In the coming months, we will be sharing this information via social media and other areas. But the reason I mentioned that as an example, is because we’re partly working with the executives in the federal ministry of environment but also a wonderful collaboration with the National Assembly, because they have such an important oversight role. The National Climate Action was created, and the climate counsellor exam was created.

PT: How do you think that has done so far? What are some key points you would like to make about these projects. As you mentioned in the north about agriculture projects, we are well aware of the problem of land degradation in northern Africa, which is driving the herders to the south. Are there any specific projects that you are implementing in this regard?

Melbourne:Propcom Mai-Karfi, yes, is one project. It is a continuation of the project. However, it is not necessarily an inspiring neck. The Reduced Methane Emission Rice production programme, for instance, is one aspect of the programme. This programme also increases food security yields. So that’s something we’re very proud of working with local farmers. I think land degradation is a major problem. Nigeria is one the most vulnerable countries to climate change. There are several key events this year, including COP 27, shadow shake and shadow summit.

Also, the UN conference certification was before that. We also have the Conference of the convention of biologic diversity. One is in May, one is in August. Nigeria can play a catalyst role again, as it has just assumed the presidency of the Pan African Agency of the Great Green. This means that Nigeria will have a responsibility and a role to attract the investments, some of them pledged at the last one planet Summit, which France hosted last May. More pledges were made to companies to coordinate the effort and ensure that the funds go to northern Nigeria. And that belt, actually, that’s Sahel where desertification is a huge issue and threatens livelihoods in the conflict.

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PT. In cases where the UK commits funds to get these types of projects out, how do they ensure that they actually take place in terms value for money and even things actually happening?

Melbourne:Yes, they are. All of our projects are audited. Primarily, we have auditors, and so it’s something we take very, very seriously. The UK taxpayer wants its investments and technical assistance to have the greatest impact, the highest value, and reach those who are the most vulnerable. So it’s a really good question. However, there are MSC managers who can ensure strong monitoring and evaluation. And there’s a sort of new framework, actually, as well, where all UK aid must take into account climate environmental considerations, if it’s doing harm, that projects are going to be stopped. So that’s a fairly new framework that we have, and we must attend to our hope together, that ensures that most of them will get the same 100 per cent . You know that most of it does what it says: improves the lives and livelihoods people in Nigeria.

PT: This refers to biodiversity preservation. This includes wildlife and forest resources. We hear about interceptions of things like wood, elephant tusks, and pangolin every now and then. We know that this type of situation is difficult to stop or manage because there is very little law enforcement. We do know that the UK and a few other governments have tried to help strengthen Nigeria’s capabilities in terms of the law enforcement justice system. These things are transported to Asia mostly as wood and all that. Is your role in this? What are the UK government’s specific actions to assist with law enforcement to ensure that those who are responsible for these types of acts are held accountable?

Melbourne:That is a good question. There are some endangered wildlife in Nigeria and West Africa. The illegal wildlife trade is a huge global problem, as you know. You specifically mentioned the links to East Asia. We are working with Nigerian law enforcement and we are working together with Nigerian customs in order to improve intercepts so that those who engage in this activity can be brought to justice. In fact, on the third of March, I believe there’s an event in the visual where some of these issues will be highlighted and some of the efforts to tackle it and books have been highlighted. We will be speaking alongside U.S. colleagues, the Ministry of Environment, customs, German Embassy, as well as the Ministry of Environment. This is a great example of collaboration. Law enforcement is only one aspect of the equation. It will not work by itself. Some people will travel to illegal wildlife trade.

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It is extremely poor, but it’s in dire poverty. So we must also support livelihoods. This reduces the incentive to track animals like elephant trunks, pangolin scales, and other such perverse incentives. You need both approaches simultaneously. We are working closely with the Wildlife Conservation program, for example, on Cross River. I was delighted to visit Cross River in October to see some their amazing work, and to see the incredible to see grave work done by the rangers, who have a nearly impossible task. But do that task with great dedication, with no finite resource, but they’re working closely with wildlife conservation society closely with us and other partners to try and protect Nigeria’s heritage. Because at the end, if they would like that rose to work with the animals being traded.

PT: We’re talking about refiners in Europe; we have a situation where the constituents of fuel that is imported to Nigeria go out of standard, which definitely has huge environmental implications?

Melbourne: Yeah, I think what’s going to help is for Nigeria to have its own refining capacity. And Mr Dangote has been working hard on his super-supersized refinery in southern Nigeria for a very long time. So that will stop the slightly odd situation of Nigeria’s crude going to Europe or wherever and then coming back as petrol or diesel, adulterated or otherwise. This is more of a trade- and investment point than it is a law enforcement issue. But you have really never neatly also made the climate connections as well, but having one’s own refining capacity will help on both angles. Absolutely.

PT. What are the most significant achievements you and your team have made in Nigeria since you arrived?

Melbourne: When I arrived, my position here in Nigeria didn’t exist, so there was no person on Climate. It is a sign of the increasing importance of climate change in the world that I was appointed. That is why the world gathered at COP 26 last years to discuss decisions that could lead towards a transformative change. Apart from my amazing colleagues who support me every day, what I am most proud of in the past two and a half years here is working in tandem and the Ministry of Environment and National Assembly to get that Climate change Bill through the process. I provided that technical support and advice and, lo and behold!, I was passed. I think that, for the first time, there’s a legal framework in addressing climate issues in Nigeria. This is something that I believe very few people realize how important it is. The NDC is great, but I believe the Climate Change Act has legal power. If it is properly implemented, Nigerians can get great investments in climate change projects. I believe we would also get more current responses from Nigeria’s public-private sector. It was a very important signal. It provides a solid foundation for climate action moving forward.

PT: We understand that the issue of crude oil is Nigeria’s economic lifeblood, and as the Head of Climate Change and Energy of the British Foreign CommonWealth and Development Office, is there sustainable energy in place of fossil fuel you think Nigeria should adopt in order to curb excessive carbon emissions in the country?

Melbourne:Yes, I will speak generically and then I will travel to Nigeria. The global transition from oil and gas to green power must happen 46 times faster than at present to achieve the Paris agreement. It is vital that we abandon oil, gas, and coal. Fossil fuels are responsible for more than 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and almost 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions. I disagree with your statement about oil & gas being the lifeblood Nigeria 20 years ago. It is no longer true. Oil and gas revenues have a significant impact on foreign exchange and government coffers. But what we’ve seen about Nigeria in that last 10-15 years ago is that other sectors have become much more important and have some diversification. The ICT and Nollywood sectors, for example, are flourishing. Nigeria has a number of entrepreneurs that are second to none. Your renewable energy potential is also enormous. But you can only attract investment if you have the right policy framework. I believe you are getting there. I think your Economic Sustainability Plans post Covid-19 is a solid plan.

We have recently sponsored a study which shows that if you remove VAT in Customs from the importation of solar standalone systems you will massively increase the uptake of that system in Nigeria from something like 700,000 by 2025 to 2.75 million and that’s a fantastic energy access. It’s great for the poor, or even more. The ministry of finance may lose some revenue over the five-year period due to the removal of this duty. After the five-year period, you can get that revenue back up to nine times through the establishment successful businesses and other taxes. This is a huge win-win situation that we really want to see in Nigeria. The study is freely available. We’ve shared it widely with the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Finance. We’ve shared it with a lot of people and we’ve had a couple of workshops on it. We did the study because it is very clear, concise and has a lot of data to support policy-making. I hope that some of these recommendations will be made over the course this year.

PT: Have this policy been shared with the government?

Melbourne: Yes!

PT: What kind feedback have you received?

Melbourne: I don’t think they have given a definitive answer yet. But I hope they will carefully study this. But I think the evidence in favor of the environment is overwhelming. It’s also positive from a social-economic and physical perspective. I think there’s a lot of reasons to move quickly from an oil & gas economy to lower carbon alternatives. It is not gonna happen tomorrow, and I think for gas in particular, you know there’s perhaps a lawless transition fuel. There are several studies that show how switching cooking methods from Kerosene to charcoal can have socio-economic climate benefits. By a transition totally, if money is poured into oil & gas at the current rate eventually there is a risk of stranded assets, and everywhere around Nigeria, people are developing their renewable alternatives. Over weeks and years, we are seeing the price of solar and other renewables drop dramatically.

PT: How’s your agency working with multinational companies like Shell to deal with gas flaring and oil pollution in the Niger Delta?

Melbourne:You have raised an important topic. We have been talking a lot about carbon emissions. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. Nigeria is the world’s largest Methane emitter. It is therefore crucial to tackle it. Flaring is another source of revenue for the government. Flaring can be for safety or health reasons. The majority of the gas can be used more efficiently or stopped entirely. We are pleased that Nigeria has joined the global methane pledge. This was yet another announcement at COP 26, which we were delighted about. We have a UK programme called Foster which supports the oil & gas sector on how this flaring can be controlled efficiently. You also mentioned soot problems, but that is not the same as flaring. Illegal activities are what cause a lot soots. It is pleasing to see Nigeria included in the enhanced NDC. This is a recognition of the problem with gas flaring and its fugitive mission, which is slightly different than oil and gas fields, and a willingness to address them. This is where the 47% unconditional emission reduction comes in. International investors are needed to work with Nigeria to reduce methane emission.