Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, or SSAP-SDGs, has stressed the need of speeding up climate action plans through national financing strategies and Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs), underscoring their crucial role in financing climate action.At a crucial Climate Finance Side Event at COP28 in Dubai, Orelope-Adefulire spoke. The event was organized by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs), in partnership with the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Nigeria's commitment to global climate action and sustainable development was demonstrated during the event.
As the world approaches the halfway point of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Presidential Aide underlined the importance of addressing climate challenges and the role that the event will play in promoting conversations about financing strategies that are essential for taking action on climate change.
Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire emphasized the enactment of the Climate Change Act 2021 and the creation of a National Council on Climate Change as evidence of Nigeria's dedication to the global climate agenda. She reaffirmed to the audience Nigeria's commitments made at the 2021 COP26, particularly the audacious goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2060.
She emphasized Nigeria's integrated strategy for implementing the SDGs, which has been coordinating short- and medium-term national development goals with the SDGs since 2016. She underlined how crucial the Integrated National Financing Framework is to Nigeria's commitment to funding development in line with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the 2030 Agenda.
Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire gave an overview of Nigeria's future plans and pledged to give top priority to the important projects and changes included in the INFF Roadmap. Notwithstanding the world's financial difficulties, the country wants to raise public and private funding while guaranteeing caution in public sector investments to assist the attainment of the SDGs. For a comprehensive strategy to implement the INFF Roadmap in Nigeria, the Senior Special Assistant emphasized the significance of collaborations with the corporate sector, non-state actors, and the United Nations Development system.
The National Steering Committee on Nigeria's INFF is chaired by Mr. Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy. During the panel discussion, Mr. Edun emphasized how Nigeria will expedite her Climate Action Plan through the INFF.
He pointed out that in order to meet the significant obstacles associated with implementing the SDGs on a global scale, international cooperation, coordination, and the mobilization of the required financial resources must be used to accelerate climate action and ambition. He also underlined that since the climate emergency is a global crisis requiring a global response, the SDGs demand additional investments and alignments from public, corporate, domestic, and international sources.
The UNDP's Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa, Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa, complimented Nigeria on the INFF effort in her speech as well. According to her, Nigeria understands that addressing climate change, social advancement, and economic development would all benefit from a conscious effort to take into account all economic processes and its own financial landscape.
Observing that the INFF, as one of the 12 SDGs stimulus packages, can help finance national climate goals and integrate the financing of climate actions and Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs, she noted that over 80 countries are turning to the INFF to bridge the funding gap.
"We must not lose sight of the fact that development progress is constantly under threat from climate change. Climate change is costing us a lot of ground. Many decades-old investments are losing a lot of money. Thus, what we are witnessing now is a grave danger to our basic nature. Let's retaliate by accelerating the development of resilient communities and economies by utilizing the INFF as a tool. She was full.
The other panelists, Mr. Alex Wang, Director Global Committee on Social Business for SDGs China, Ms. Vivi Yulaswati, Deputy Minister on Maritime and Natural Resources/Head of National SDGs Secretariat Ministry of National Development Planning, and Ahmad Salihijo of the Rural Electrification Agency of Nigeria, all echoed these views.