Sharon Ikeazor, Minister of State for Environment, informed the United Nations Environment Assembly that Nigeria adopted innovative strategies for sustainable forest management, plastic and solid waste management, and drought and desertification policy to achieve land degradation neutrality.
Ikeazor made the announcement while delivering the Nigerian National Statement at the Fifth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5,2) in Nairobi, Kenya.
She emphasized Nigeria’s commitment to global environmental sustainability and the achievement of the country’s NDC, which calls for a 20 percent reduction in emissions unconditionally and a 47 percent reduction conditionally by 2030.
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The minister informed the Assembly that Nigeria has developed an Energy Transition Plan as a step toward achieving net-zero emissions by 2060, as well as the enactment of a climate change law in 2021 to provide a legal framework for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
On the sidelines of the UNEA engagement, Ikeazor had bilateral engagements with the Director-General of the World Wild Fund (WWF) for nature, Mr Marco Lambertini, according to a statement by the Federal Ministry of Environment’s Director Press, Saghir el Mohammed.
He stated that the minister’s meeting with the World Wild Fund focused on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and the need for collaboration on the management of President Buhari’s ten new national parks, particularly the two designated Marine Protected Areas in Bayelsa State.
The Honourable Minister also met with the Swedish Minister of Environment to discuss preparations and areas of collaboration for the upcoming Stockholm+50 conference, which will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations Conference on Human Environment, which was held in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972.
The conference’s theme is Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for all—our responsibility, our opportunity.
Nigeria has signed and ratified all Chemicals and Waste Treaties, and is currently strengthening her legal and institutional infrastructures for responsible chemical and waste management.
The Minister also met with Egypt’s Environment Minister and COP 27 President to discuss activities for the upcoming COP27 in Egypt in November 2022. The two Ministers also discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties on environmental issues with both countries.
The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) is the world’s highest-level environmental decision-making body. It addresses the world’s critical environmental challenges, and Nigeria has since ratified its membership in the UN body.