By Nasir Kura
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved a memo for the ratification of the Doha Amendment of the Kyoto Protocol, concerning the United Nations framework conventions on climate change.
Minister of State for Environment, Mr. Ibrahim Jubril, who disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the weekly FEC meeting in Abuja, said the essence is to address issues of gaseous emissions that are harmful to the environment.
“The Kyoto Protocol was crafted in 2004 and Nigeria is a party to that. The initial period of commitment of the protocol was from 2008-2012. The new segment now is from 2013-2020,” he said.
On the benefits of the Doha Amendment of the Kyoto Protocol, the minister said once the amendment is ratified, Nigeria would be able to access financial assistance to mitigate and adapt to impacts of climate change.
“There will be access to technology and capacity building and there will also be networking with other nations and organizations who are more advanced and can be of help to us as a country and lastly, continuation of flexible mechanisms and contribution to global efforts as no one country has the solution for this problem alone.
“So the idea is to team up and then get the developing countries to be assisted effectively. Certainly, it is in our own interest to get this agreement ratified which we have done today and the next stage will be for the Attorney General to provide the instrument of ratification which will be signed later by Mr. President and be deposited at the United Nations in New York,” he said.
