President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari left Abuja on Saturday for Poland to attend
the 24th session of the Climate Change Conference known as the Parties
(COP24).
Mr. Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media &
Publicity), said in a statement on Friday that COP24, under the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), would hold from
December 2-4, 2018 in the Polish city of Katowice.
The COP24 Summit, taking place at the International Conference Centre
(MCK) and the adjacent Spodek Arena in Katowice, is being convened under
the Presidency of Poland.
According to the organisers, the conference is expected to finalise the
rules for implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change under
the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP) – the rule book for
implementation.
During the Leaders’ Summit at COP24, President Buhari will deliver a
national statement highlighting Nigeria’s commitment to addressing
climate change by implementing the goals set out in its National
Determined Contributions, Adesina said.
The president would also use the occasion to accentuate Nigeria’s
willingness to work with international partners to reverse the negative
effects of climate change in Africa and the world over.
He said President Buhari would be expecting that developed nations scale
up their emission reduction activities in order to limit the increase
in average global temperatures to well below 2 degrees centigrade
between now and 2020.
The Leaders’ Summit is expected to adopt a ‘‘Declaration on Solidarity
and Just Transition Silesia,’’ – named after the region of Poland where
this year’s climate conference is taking place, he said.
As a member of the Committee of the African Heads of State on Climate
Change – a group of 10 African countries that meets and takes positions
concerning issues of climate change on behalf of the continent – Nigeria
has been at the forefront of advancing policies and initiatives.
It is aimed at addressing significant challenges occasioned by climate
change such as reviving the Lake Chad, halting and reversing
desertification, flooding, ocean surge and oil spillage.
President Buhari will continue to champion these pressing issues at
COP24 in Katowice, among others, as well as reiterate Nigeria’s position
on the need for African countries to access financial resources,
especially the Green Climate Fund to draw up climate change adaptation
policies and actions for implementation.
The Nigerian delegation will also showcase the policy measures and
actions of the Federal Government at ensuring environmental
sustainability and effectively combating climate change through several
side events within the Nigerian pavilion.
While in Poland, President Buhari will hold an interactive session with the Nigerian community in that country.
The Nigerian leader is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with
the President of Poland Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz
Morawiecki.
The President is accompanied by Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, Yahaya Bello of Kogi and Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger.
Others on his entourage include the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Geoffrey Onyeama, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, and
the Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Jibrin.