The NETP was preceded by the passing and signing of the Climate Change Act 2021, an act that showed and demonstrated the commitment of the Federal Government to abiding and honoring their part of Paris Agreement, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), UN SDGs and other standards and guidelines relevant to climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Already, the NETP has been approved by the Federal Government through the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and an Energy Transition Implementation Working Group (ETIWG) inaugurated which is chaired by HE Vice President Prof Osinbajo SAN. The ETIWG is tasked with driving and implementing the NETP.
What should we expect from NETP?
The NETP will focus on reducing emissions from the major emitters or contributors to emissions in the key sectors which make up to 65% of our total emissions being power, transport, oil and gas, cooking, and industry using innovative technology solutions and attracting sustainable investments that will enhance and ensure our competitive advantage especially in local content opportunities (manufacturing, human capacity building and development, industrial development, and technology). The goal is to domesticate, industrialize, and institutionalize practices, processes, and projects that are clean, sustainable, and competitive while meeting our energy needs, promoting socioeconomic development, and advancing our shared interests and opportunities.
Nigeria understands that to achieve this, it will not be done by maintaining the status quo or playing lip service, it needs and requires bold ideas and the active engagement and collaboration of relevant stakeholders to understand the problems and challenges, identify feasible and cost effective solution options to achieve it based on our shared interests and realities, and working together with actionable plans and activities to develop and implement a framework that is incremental, sustainable, and realistic. These options should include and consider a diverse energy mix within our competitive advantage. The coordination and implementation should be for, of, and by Nigeria. We understand our burdens and challenges better, would have to live with the consequences and implications, and stand to gain and learn from the lessons and opportunities emanating from it.
Unlike other country Energy Transition Plans, Nigeria’s is unique in that it understands the realities and complexities of our country demography, our energy challenges and opportunities, and the promise of our shared interests and commitment towards a cleaner, diverse, and more sustainable energy mix leveraging from the lessons of what some have termed the oil curse. The lessons from the Russian-Ukraine Conflict should serve as a lesson and insight on the dangers and challenges of unnecessary reliance on a commodity you don't have control over. In our case, Nigeria has chosen to use gas as a transition fuel, a product we have in abundance and are among the top 20 in the world in terms of reserves. This gas will feed into these five sectors that are major emitters and contribute in reducing our carbon emissions while promoting economic development, energy diversification, and sustainable and transformative solutions to our infrastructure problems.
It is estimated that $1.9T is required to get to Net Zero by 2060 which translates to about $10B annually. This will be no easy feat to achieve but not impossible. As of today, September 1st 2022, HE VP Yemi Osinbajo is in the USA drumming up support and mobilizing necessary resources to achieve this goal. However, we must work towards ensuring that certain minimum requirements are met. I have outlined them summarily below.
They are:
Transparency: There must be the highest priority given to ensure that the public is carried along, sensitized, and engaged in every process and expenditures. Civil society and consumer advocacy group nominations must be part of the ETIWG and carried along in the processes especially the procurement stages. Monitoring and evaluation should form a strong part of the implementation mechanism and structure with a clear and informed reporting framework.
Sustainability: This should be given attention to ensure that plans and processes are institutionalized and given the necessary backing of law and enabling environment to enable them achieve expectations. Given the looming threat and challenge of the pending elections in Nigeria, which calls for concern, such issues should be addressed. Entities and structures like the NSIA should form part of the implementing and coordinating bodies.
Policy Coordination and Enforcement: It is important that whatever provisions that are provided as incentives, penalties, processes, procedures, and requirements are regulated and enforced. The policies must pass the test of responsibility, fairness and equity, competitive advantage that ensures and protects our national shared interests, innovation, and effectiveness through careful data collection, research, and engagement.
Nigeria First, Nigeria Always: Our efforts must focus on leveraging our competitive advantage by building and enhancing our capacity in sectors we are lagging and protecting our interests while enshrining an open, fair, responsible process for local content development, competitive and accessible financing opportunities, and innovative industrialization through partnerships, strategic investment opportunities, and engagements with global stakeholders and entities that meet our shared interests and requirements.
Human Capital and Capacity Focus: Efforts and commitments should be made to ensure that the right combination of competence, capacity, and character across the value chain is involved in the process of the development and implementation of this plan stating with the ETIWG. This should filter down to the procurement and award of contracts, partnerships embarked, and financial and technical support and development companies that will be involved in every facet of this process.
Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Strategies: The environmental impact and implications of actions and activities emanating from the plan including transition and new technologies should be considered and accommodated to mitigate. Such issues as investing in and developing learning and adaptive solution options for technology utilization and implementation should be considered.
In conclusion, the reality is that Nigeria may have to still rely on fossil fuels, looking even beyond gas, longer than most others to survive and complete but must not. Other clean energy solutions must be considered and invested in to develop, like hydrogen, but any and every new technology must be planned for and managed appropriately to avoid the risks and issues the implications of such has on the poor, marginalized, and disadvantaged. Flexibility and adaptability in our diversification and utilization options based on new realities influenced by new knowledge and understanding must be considered. Our options should never hedge us into a cage that limits or prohibits our survival and competitive advantage interests. It must and should continue to be Nigerian owned and led. It’s focus and priority should always be to harness and optimally deploy to the fullest potential our creative abilities and strength while managing for and mitigating risks associated with it.
