Nigerias ambition er at blive en af verdens 20 største økonomier i 2020, men landet bør fokusere på klimarobusthed og bevæge sig væk fra kulstof, og det behøver ikke at gå ud over væksten, konkluderer Verdensbanken i to nye rapporter.
ABUJA, June 10, 2013: Nigeria’s economy can be made more climate-resilient and less carbon-intensive without foregoing growth, argue two new World Bank reports “Toward Climate-Resilient Development in Nigeria” and “Low-Carbon Development Opportunities for Nigeria,” released Monday.
These studies are the fruit of a two-year long collaboration between the World Bank and the Government of Nigeria to address the challenges posed by climate change to Nigeria.
The reports identify specific technologies and management practices that could be applied to key economic sectors, including agriculture and land use, water resources, oil and gas, power, and transport.
“The 2012 floods in Nigeria were a stark reminder of the vulnerability of our communities, infrastructure and economy to climate-induced natural disasters,” said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Federal Minister of Finance.
“These studies will help inform decision-making across key sectors and levels of governments so that the economy becomes not only more productive but also more climate-resilient,” he added.
The reports contain a sobering finding: absent actions taken now, the impacts of climate change could hamper Nigeria’s ability to achieve its ambition -set out in Vision 20: 2020- of becoming one of the world’s 20 largest economies by 2020.
“The World Bank is privileged to have a strong partnership with the Government of Nigeria, and I am pleased that our latest collaborative effort takes a close look at climate change and its potential impacts on Nigeria, Africa’s second largest economy,” said Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria.
The good news is that a range of technological and management actions are available and offer promising opportunities to build resilience to climate change into the fabric of the economy, according to the reports.
“Building a climate-resilient, low-carbon economy need not be at odds with growth,” said Jamal Saghir, the World Bank’s Director of Sustainable Development for the Africa Region, and added:
“To assist sound policy-making and better assessment of tradeoffs, these reports offer practical examples of win-win actions that Nigeria could consider adopting for achieving lasting development outcomes.”
