Climate Change: Removal of fuel Subsidy is not an Economic Decision but a Survival Strategy- Salako
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Environment, Dr. Iziaq Salako, has noted that the removal of fuel subsidy as announced by President Bola Tinubu was not an economic decision but a Survival strategy. Salako who represented Tinubu at the just concluded African Climate Summit in Kenya told journalists.
He said “the whole of Africa has also agreed that subsidising fossil fuel is not what we should continue to encourage. What we need to do is to see how we can transition from using such climate-hazardous sources of energy to more friendly sources.
“The development has made the government consider more environmentally friendly sources of energy, which is why it is considering compressed natural Gas as an alternative source of clean energy in the country”
Salako said the quantity of emissions affecting the climate has since reduced greatly after the removal of the subsidy.
“If you look at our data, between May and June when the president announced the removal of subsidies, our consumption of fossil fuel dropped by almost 30 per cent”, Salako added.
Speaking about job creation, he said the Tinubu’s administration was willing to leverage on the clean energy component to create about 30 million green jobs
“Achieving four out of the eight-point agenda of President Tinubu, climate action is central like eradication of poverty, creating jobs, security and even food security. Unless we take positive climate action, we will not be able to achieve key points of the 8-point agenda”.
When asked about the far reaching decisions of the summit, Salako said: “We have been able to establish that the developed world contributes to the problem of climate change but the solution is in Africa, and for the first time, Africa was able to speak with one voice and come out with the Nairobi Declaration which talks a lot about the need for developed world to stop treating Africa as a continent that needs handouts or aids.
“The developed world should treat Africa as a partner and they should not see us as beggars. They should not think that when they give us aid, they are giving handouts. They should know that when they pay for our activities, it is more or less like paying for their sins. So, we have established that.
“We have also been able to establish that it is not only funding that Africa needs, we also need local capacity development too”, Salako concluded.