WED JULY 02 2025-theGBJournal| Vice President Kashim Shettima said Wednesday, Nigeria is on the verge of significantly reducing carbon emissions through the deployment of an integrated hybrid energy system.
He revealed as well that Nigeria is in discussion with global financial institutions to secure $60 million in climate finance for pilot green energy hubs, including a transformative hybrid energy project at a major Nigerian airport.
Vice President Shettima hinted on these developments while declaring open the Decarbonising Infrastructure in Nigeria Summit (DIN Summit) in Abuja.
He said Nigeria’s ”goal is net-zero, but our journey must be local, inclusive and urgent.”
The high-level Summit brings together public and private sector stakeholders as well as multilateral financial institutions, research organisations and civil society groups to chart a sustainable course for infrastructure decarbonization across pivotal sectors such as energy, transport, urban development and agriculture.
Vice President Shettima had warned that Nigeria would struggle to compete globally if its climate ambitions fail to align with its development realities.
”while the truth about the nation’s climate question is that the country can no longer build yesterday’s infrastructure for tomorrow, climate action has now become an economic necessity and not a luxury,” the Vice President stressed.
The Vice President noted that the continued inaction in the face of escalating climate challenges would determine the Nigeria’s development ambitions.
VP Shettima also noted that 75 percent of Nigeria’s greenhouse gas emissions are generated from the infrastructure sector, including energy, transport, urban development, and agriculture.
These sectors, he said, are not only carbon-heavy but also represent the backbone of the nation’s economy, especially agriculture, which supports 70 percent of rural livelihoods.
”Without urgent intervention, Nigeria’s projected population boom, could further strain resources and worsen environmental degradation,” he warned.
While describing the emission figures as a wake-up call, he maintained that ”the only way out of the predicted doom is to decarbonise these systems,” emphasising the need to “build a Nigeria with infrastructure that heals, and not one that harms.”
He described the summit’s theme, Unlocking Climate Finance for Sustainable Development, as timely and relevant, stating that the country faces the urgent challenge of decoupling economic growth from carbon-intensive models of the past—without leaving any Nigerian behind.
Vice President Shettima, ”this is why we must strengthen our regulatory frameworks. This is why we must harmonise policy across sectors and tiers. This is why we must launch tools like the Green Investment Portal to connect capital to climate-smart opportunities.”
He added that “this is why we must have our states at the forefront of this march to the future—to show that decarbonisation must not stop at Abuja’s gates. It must reach every local government, every community, every home.”
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