FG to issue $20bn bond for climate change soon

 …Reps say N8.1bn allocation inadequate The Federal Government will soon issue a $20bn bond to raise funds to tackle the negative effects of climate change, the permanent secretary in the ministry of environment, Bukar Hassan, said yesterday. Bukar, who spoke during the ministry’s 2017 budget defence with the House of Representatives committee on climate change, […]

 …Reps say N8.1bn allocation inadequate

Bukar, who spoke during the ministry’s 2017 budget defence with the House of Representatives committee on climate change, said the bond would be issued before the end of March.

He said the ministry would execute a total of 31 projects nationwide with each of the six geopolitical zones getting its own fair share of the projects.

Earlier, the chairman of the committee, Rep Sam Onuigbo (PDP, Abia) said the N8.1 billion set aside to combat climate change in the budget was inadequate.

He said when the amount was juxtaposed with the budgetary allocations of other countries for climate change, “Nigeria’s investment pales rapidly into insignificance.”

“We have noted with profound concern that modest amount deliberately set aside by the budget office for agencies to tackling climate change and also lay the foundation for the nation to benefit from investment opportunities that abound in this exercise.

He said the National Assembly was working on a bill to make the Executive arm create an enabling regulatory framework to facilitate investment in climate change.