President Ahmed Tinubu has said that Nigeria will do everything possible to align with other African countries to access international climate finance to address climate-related challenges.

Tinubu made the assertion in an address at COP29 Tuesday in Baku, Azerbaijan, saying, “We are demanding greater, easier access to these funds, like grants to support mitigation and adaptation efforts of the government.”

Represented by Minister of Environment and Ecological Management, Balarabe Lawal, he stressed the need to significantly scale up adaptation finance to enable developing countries to accelerate them and build resilience. 

He called for accelerated efforts to operationalize the loss and damage fund to mitigate the damaging impacts of climate change, adding that “we will align with the Harare Declaration by the African Ministers of Health to take action on the impact of climate change on health.

“Nigeria is one of the countries of the world most vulnerable to the adverse impact of climate change. There is increasing evidence that the country is experiencing widespread challenges attributed to climate change and its impacts.

“To address these concerns, the country is intensifying the implementation of policies and plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, increase resilience, and include climate change solutions into national planning processes.

“We are making investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, afforestation, transportation, and other climate-friendly initiatives. Almost ten years after the Paris Agreement, the world stands at a defining juncture in the transition away from fossil fuels.

 “Nigeria has joined the world in the deployment and adoption of several interrelated technologies especially that of renewable energies sources, alternative energy sources such as compress natural gas (CNG) mobility systems and electrification technologies.”