THE Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to unlocking carbon finance to accelerate the expansion of clean cooking solutions across the country.

The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, who gave assurance during the visit of a high-level delegation of the Board of Trustees and Executives of the Nigerian Alliance for Clean Cooking (NACC), promised Nigerians to make the carbon market work for the poorest in the country.
The commitment came amid growing discontent over the government’s inability to approve carbon projects that will allow access to cleaner cooking fuels and appliances for poor households in Nigeria.

Lawal assured the delegation that immediate steps will be taken to ensure that all requests for approval will be processed without further delay.

“The president has recently launched the Carbon Market Activation Plan. This provides a framework for incentives to attract investors in clean cooking and other priority areas of green growth in Nigeria,” he said. “We do not promote carbon investments to improve the health of families alone; the reduction of firewood use is essential for preserving our forests and creating new jobs. It is the priority of this Administration.”

Earlier, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Alliance, Ewah Eleri, listed a number of challenges facing the clean cooking sector. First is the inability of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) to approve requests for No-Objection and issuing of Letters of Authority to investors, further eroding investment confidence and making Nigeria an unattractive destination for green growth projects.

According to Eleri, “over 100 million dollars of certified emission reduction clean cooking projects are languishing in NCCC. Without government approvals, these investments will find their way to other countries with all the thousands of jobs they could create in Nigeria,” he lamented.

A member of the delegation and Chief Executive Officer of Roshan Energy Limited, Happy Amos, narrated how the lack of government approval for her carbon project led to the sacking of her workers.
According to Amos, “my company used to have over 30 workers while we had an ongoing carbon asset project, and we produced over 50,000 stoves. The inability to renew the approval for an extension of this project has led to the sacking of my workers. Today we have fewer than ten workers in our factory.

“My story is the same for several other companies in the clean cooking business. We are being frustrated out of business by a government agency that is failing in its duties to promote investments in Nigeria,” she narrated.

Other challenges listed by the clean cooking organisation include the lack of a dedicated department for clean cooking in the Ministry of Environment, as well as the inability to establish a multi-stakeholder committee to ensure the effective implementation of the National Policy on Clean Cooking.

Responding, the minister assured the delegation that a committee representing various government agencies, the private sector and NGOs will soon be inaugurated. He also pledged to take steps to create a department of clean cooking in the ministry.

Eleri thanked the minister for the engagement and for his commitment to addressing the issues raised. He expressed optimism that decisive action on carbon finance and institutional coordination would help protect vulnerable households and reinvigorate Nigeria’s clean cooking transition.

He also reiterated the Alliance’s readiness to continue working closely with the ministry and other stakeholders to ensure that Nigerian households, especially the poor and vulnerable, are not left behind in the country’s clean energy transition.

Among the audience were the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Climate Change Technologies and Operation, Director Generals of several agencies in the Ministry of Environment and members of the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee of the Nigerian Alliance for Clean Cooking.