Osinbajo directs NSIA to develop carbon market plan

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday, in Abuja, directed the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority to develop the country’s first carbon market activation plan and drive engagement on the plan.

He also argued that Africa could become the first truly green civilisation given its status as the lowest carbon emitter and its relatively young population that could effectively deploy green manufacturing at scale.

“The importance of an enabling environment is crucial for Nigeria to play a global role in voluntary carbon markets. This is why I would like NSIA to take the lead in developing the first Nigeria Carbon Market Activation plan and look forward to engagement on the plan,” Osinbajo said at the official signing ceremony of the Carbon Vista Agreement at the State House, Abuja.

Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, disclosed this in a statement titled ‘Africa can become first truly green civilization–Osinbajo.’

The CV is an initiative to support Nigeria in meeting its net-zero targets by investing in carbon avoidance and removal projects.

A joint venture investment company established by the NSIA and Vitol (a multinational energy and commodities company) is expected to drive the project. Both parties are committing an initial sum of $50m for projects such as climate-smart agriculture, green industrial technologies, waste management, etc., cutting across several sectors, including agriculture, energy, and manufacturing.

The Vice President said, “Africa can become the first truly green civilization – the first civilization on earth to use renewable fuel for purposes of a transformative economic journey.”

“How can we do that? First of all, we are the lowest emitters today, and if we are going to develop our industry for the rest of the world, we can start from where we are today, we don’t have to start from where the rest of the world is, especially the global North.

“If we are the least emitters and able to use green energy effectively, we are able to use the young population that we have, we are able to effectively deploy green manufacturing on a scale that would be required to become the global green factory and power of the world, we can indeed do something revolutionary and different,” he said.

He described the collaboration between NSIA and Vitol as crucial because its lineup of projects would make Nigeria a “truly green economy”.

Steering Committee directed the NSIA to play an active role building the voluntary carbon market.