At an inception workshop held on 8 April 2021, a range of stakeholders gathered virtually and in person to kick-start the ICAT project which aims to enhance Nigeria’s ability to measure the performance of targeted climate policies and actions. In partnership with the Government of Nigeria, the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute (GHGMI) and CITEPA, ICAT will provide technical support throughout the 5 month project.
As the leading oil producer in Africa, and home to the continent’s largest economy, Nigeria faces the unique challenge of having to diversify its economy away from fossil fuels while simultaneously responding to the unmet energy needs of its growing population. In response, Nigeria is turning this challenge into an opportunity by increasing its use of renewable energy, reducing its carbon footprint and eliminating gas flaring.
In his workshop statement, the Minister of Environment, Dr. Mohammed Mahmood Abubakar expressed his delight at the workshop: “the ICAT project is coming at a time when the Government of Nigeria is vigorously pursuing her commitment to the Paris Agreement, therefore urge everyone and every sector to brace up and join the chariot and effectively contribute their quota towards addressing the climate change challenge of reducing greenhouse emissions towards meeting our NDC targets”.
To support the Government’s efforts to reach its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets and development goals, ICAT is helping build Nigeria’s capacity to develop and apply sectoral measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) systems as well as develop an overarching national MRV system in line with the Enhanced Transparency Framework of the Paris Agreement.
The project will focus on three sectors (oil and gas; transport; and agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) and will help integrate transparency in climate policies and actions, assess the impacts of policies and measures – including on greenhouse gas levels – and create a platform to support interaction and idea-sharing on climate action transparency among stakeholders.
At the inception meeting, key stakeholders – including members of government, non-governmental organizations, academic and private sector – were informed of the project objectives, defined expected roles and responsibilities, and discussed and adopted the work plan for implementation. Active stakeholder participation was encouraged throughout the event.
In regards to the impact the ICAT project has on building momentum among national stakeholders, Mrs. Halima Bawa Bwari, Director of the Department of Climate Change commented: “the project is expected to create awareness and build a national cross-cutting knowledge sharing platform for key stakeholders to enhance capacity to transparently measure and report on climate actions and policies”.
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