President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja on Saturday, December 1, for Katowice, Poland to attend the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP24) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) between December 2 and 4.
Buhari will be travelling with Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Yahaya Bello and Abubakar Sani Bello of Enugu, Kogi and Niger states, respectively. Also on his entourage will include the minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, Suleiman Adamu, and his colleague in the ministry of environment, Ibrahim Jibrin.
A statement from Femi Adesina, the president’s spokesperson, says the COP24 summit, which will be held at the International Conference Centre (MCK) and the adjacent Spodek Arena in Katowice, is being convened under the presidency of Poland.
The statement quoted the organisers of the conference as saying the event is expected to finalize the rules for implementation of the Paris agreement on climate change under the ‘Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP)’ – the rule book for implementation.
“During the leaders’ summit at COP24, President Buhari will deliver a national statement highlighting Nigeria’s commitment to addressing climate change by implementing the goals set out in its national determined contributions.
“He will also use the occasion to accentuate Nigeria’s willingness to work with international partners to reverse the negative effects of climate change in Africa and the world over, while expecting that developed nations scale up their emission reduction activities in order to limit the increase in average global temperatures to well below two degrees centigrade between now and 2020.
“The leaders’ summit is expected to adopt a ‘Declaration on Solidarity and Just Transition Silesia,’ – named after the region of Poland where this year’s climate conference is taking place. As a member of the Committee of the African Heads of State on Climate Change – a group of 10 African countries that meets and takes positions concerning issues of climate change on behalf of the continent – Nigeria has been at the forefront of advancing policies and initiatives aimed at addressing significant challenges occasioned by climate change such as reviving the Lake Chad, halting and reversing desertification, flooding, ocean surge and oil spillage,” the statement said.
The statement added that President Buhari will continue to reiterate Nigeria’s position on the need for African countries to access financial resources, especially the green climate fund. This would be with the aim of drawing up climate change adaptation policies and actions for implementation.