COP28–MORE THAN A SOIREE FOR DELEGATES

We seem to be moving in the right direction with regard to safeguarding our planet, contends

Khadija M-Williams 

COP28, or the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, was recently held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). This event is typically where various governments come together to agree on policies which aim to limit global temperature rises and adapt to impacts associated with climate change. COP28 is basically the Oscars of the Sustainability/Climate Change world. Yes, you may have heard a lot about whether the delegates Nigeria took to the event were qualified or otherwise – this is not what we shall discuss in this article. Nigeria, like other countries working towards a better world, attended the event and a number of initiatives were announced such as: the unveiling of an electric bus fleet by President Tinubu with the aim to reduce the country’s carbon emissions; the Nigerian Carbon Market Activation Plan which is a special committee to assist in the drafting of a national carbon market strategy; the unveiling of the Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy; Nigeria’s commitment to the Global Cooling Pledge which aims to raise ambition and international cooperation to ensure that cooling related emissions are reduced and cooling systems are sustainable and accessible; and Nigeria’s commitment to eliminating gas flaring in a bid to reduce methane emissions. All these initiatives are supposed to further Nigeria’s commitment to decarbonising her economy and achieving net zero emissions by 2060.

There were also a number of important outcomes at COP28, two of which were the operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund (the Fund), and a call for the transition away from the use of fossil fuels. The Fund, which was agreed to at COP27 held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, aims to provide funding for vulnerable countries that have been hit the hardest by climate disasters. This Fund is different from climate adaptation or mitigation funding as it covers climate-related disasters that affected communities are unable to adapt to or mitigate. The amount of money committed to the Fund currently sits at US$798m – developing countries face an estimated loss of US$400bn each year. More on this massive gap later in this piece. The call for the transition away from the use of fossil fuels is being highlighted as a landmark agreement as it is the first time fossil fuels have been specifically named in climate negotiations. That said, and with all things where different actors are involved, it was a very political outcome whose effectiveness will be tested in the years to come.

So, what does all this mean? How do these measures help Nigeria solve the environmental and social issues it currently faces? Are these measures adequate? On one hand, the money committed to the Fund means that countries like Nigeria have resources to rebuild when faced with devastating floods like those experienced by the Ayetoro community in Ondo State. As the community is on the verge of extinction, the money can be used to relocate its citizens, provide them with adequate shelter and ensure that children from the community continue to have access to education. In addition, initiatives like the Nigerian Carbon Market Activation Plan means that Nigeria has an alternate source of income – one of the proposed outcomes of this Plan is the development of an emissions trading scheme where Nigeria can create and sell carbon credits, for example, and use the revenue to make improvements in the different parts of her economy.

However, the effectiveness of these measures remains to be seen. Take the trading of carbon credits for example. Carbon credits can be developed from activities such as reforestation, developing a wind turbine field or installing electric vehicle chargers. These activities help to “lock-in” carbon emissions and prevent them from being emitted thereby allowing entities that own them to create carbon credits that can be sold to polluters for the purpose of offsetting their own emissions. When Nigeria creates its own carbon credits, she can sell them to entities who have emissions they need to reduce thereby assisting in the reduction of global emissions and creating revenue that can be used to advance her net zero aspirations. However, this is really only effective and/or makes sense if overall emissions do not increase and if polluters work towards reducing their emissions. Carbon credits in and of themselves are also controversial due to issues such as “additionality” which is a concept that considers whether a project would exist without finance from the carbon credits. In other words, you cannot create carbon credits from a project that already exists or would have been developed regardless. I have also alluded to how the current monetary commitments to the Fund is a drop in the pond sitting at 0.2% of the total amount needed by developing countries annually. Other issues associated with this fund are a lack of clarity on the funding arrangements moving forward and the countries that should be eligible for funding.

 For example, there are discussions on whether countries like India and China should be eligible for funding given that they have stronger economies compared to other developing countries. In fact, certain developed countries argue that these two countries should contribute to the fund given that the UAE has committed US$100m for the Fund and is considered a developing country according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Despite all of the uncertainty and politics surrounding COP28, one thing is for sure – we seem to be moving in the right direction with regard to safeguarding our planet and the needs of future generations but we are not moving fast enough. It is clear that we recognise the problems but we are still holding ourselves back in various ways. Governments have come together to set ambitious goals and announce ambitious initiatives that are feasible if we put our money where our mouth is and act fast.

Khadija, an environment and sustainability expert, writes from Melbourne, Australia