Renewable Energy

It’s what people say when they invite someone to share their meal: in Nigeria, you ‘chop’ food as you dig your fingers into some delicious pounded yam with egusi stew. Alas, most Nigerians are not aware that by eating food, they usually chop down trees, too. As most Nigerian meals are still prepared on the traditional three-stone fire, the nation’s forest cover has been reduced to 5 per cent of its original size. Environmental journalist Ugochi Anyaka on Nigeria’s deforestation crisis..

In the northern Nigerian state of Jigawa, the demand for firewood for baking bread has resulted in unsustainable felling of trees. This has further accentuated the problem of desert encroachment. Watch this video and contact us on info@ng.boell.org if you have a solution.

Green Deal Nigeria is an initiative aimed at creating a debate on greener development options for Nigeria. Whether young, jobless, banker, market woman or politician- Green Deal Nigeria wants all of these to debate where Nigeria should go in terms of economic growth and social justice. After the Occupy movement, how can Nigerian citizens influence politics and development in a country with high levels of corruption and low levels of policy implementation? GDN Observational Documentary - Heinrich Böll Stiftung Abuja Office Watch on YouTube This external content requires your consent. Please note our privacy policy.  

What should be done? The National Planning Commission should do a climate review of Vision 20:2020, and consult with Nigerians on a greener Vision 2030. Local governments need to start research on their clean energy potentials. The Standards Organisation of Nigeria needs to enforce regulation that stops the importation of sub-standard renewable energy technology. Our waste can be turned into cooking gas, or electricity. There is money to be made from 'rubbish'. Banks should understand the renewables industry and offer packages for young entrepreneurs at single digit interest rates. Unprofessional installation of solar and other systems make the systems fail. A large scale training and research programme is needed to prepare Nigeria for green growth. The money could come from the Crude Excess Account, from the Sovereign Wealth Fund or from the PTDF. see Clean Energy, Green Deal Nigeria study

..a country where conflict has reduced because oil is no longer the main source of wealth- for- a- few, but where young people can access economic growth in different sectors such as renewable energy, agriculture, manufacturing and transport. Marrying a farmer is fashionable as it provides security for a small family.

What happens if Nigeria continues with business-as-usual, allowing resource scarcities and uneven distribution of income from natural resources to foster conflict and strife? A troubling picture emerges where extreme drought and excessive rains force millions of people to migrate, looking for food, shelter and employment. Green Deal Nigeria author Huzi Mshelia looks at the conflict implications of climate change.   Read More - Conflict, Green Deal Nigeria study

What would young Nigerians do if they had enough electricity…? They would work. A youth research commissioned by hbs Nigeria quotes a young man from Enugu, “If there is steady light in the country, that means there will be lots of competition in manufacturing of goods and so many products”. Nigeria’s 4,000 mega watt of power are under-serving the population massively, as electricity demand is expected to rise to 192,000 mega watt in the next twenty years. Tinyan Ogiehor is a solar entrepreneur in Abuja who went into his renewable energy business because he saw how crippling the constant power black-outs were for the IT industry. Watch Video

As women and men have different adaptive and mitigative capabilities, the financing instruments and mechanisms committed to climate change activities in mitigation and adaption need to take these gender-differentiated impacts into account in funds design and operationalization as well as concrete project financing.

How will Nigeria look like when the oil is finished? How can millions of Nigerians access growth with green jobs and a fairer distribution of wealth? Nigeria's ambition to become one of the world’s top 20 economies by the year 2020 means that the country must grow its economy, create jobs and promote social cohesion without destroying its natural resources and thus harming the well-being of future generations. The Green Deal Nigeria study provides an overview and practical examples of how to green Nigeria before 2020 and explains the long-term measures that Nigeria needs to take today to make the economy grow beyond oil, which is expected to finish for all practical purposes in 15 to 20 years’ time. The study explains how to stem corruption in the oil industry, stop gas flaring and how to launch a clean energy economy that provides jobs for millions of ordinary Nigerians, especially the young. The study looks at how a shared vision of sustainable growth can reduce tension and conflict. What is Green Deal Nigeria?  

Floods, storms and ocean surges are becoming more frequent in the megacity of Lagos, but the 15 million citizens have no adequate climate change adaptation and emergency measures in place. The project “Mobilising Local Governments for Climate Action” by Community Conservation and Development Initiatives (CCDI) encourages local governments to develop the necessary adaptation projects for their specific communities. Although local governments should be in the best position to tailor the appropriate strategies, the project report points at institutional, technical and financial shortcomings which currently hinder efficient implementation.