PROPERTY NEWS

AGAINST declining investments in he light of the global economic depression, the World Bank is urging Nigerian organised private sector to go green and tap into a new chain of opportunities available in the carbon market and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

The bank says that companies stand to make more money by going 'green', as development can no longer be business as usual. "There is a way we can grow the economy without doing damage to the environment," according to a World Bank senior official who spoke at a one-day breakfast meeting in Lagos on Climate Change Investment Opportunities organised by Nigerian Climate Action Network (NigeriaCAN) and International Centre for Energy, Environment and Development (ICEED) in collaboration with Businessday and the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF).

The World Bank's Senior Environment Specialist, Dr. Amos Abu, disclosed that the bank promoted projects that would not compromise the development of developing countries. He added that the goal of carbon finance was to develop a low-carbon economy by changing countries' development strategies and policy reforms.

Abu, who stressed that due processes must be followed by investors to obtain funds from the global body, disclosed that the bank entered into partnership with Lagos State government towards the Rapid Bus Transport (BRT) system, where it staked $5 million for lowering carbon emission through the BRT and backed development of a composting project in Ikorodu that captures methane from waste.

The bank disclosed that such opportunities abound in Nigeria, especially within the organised private sector and pledged to assist firms with genuine commitment to the environment.

President of Triple E Systems Inc, Mr. Felix Dayo, said that investments in clean energy systems would provide significant benefits to the Nigerian economy, not only in terms of providing development with better environment footprints, but also in terms of enabling increased flow of green investments, especially as foreign direct investment (FDI) into the economy.

A recent World Bank study on low-carbon energy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) had identified over 750 CDM project opportunities in Nigeria. The report concluded that if all these CDM projects were implemented, slightly over 100 million tCO2e of Green House Gas (GHG) emission reductions could be generated annually in Nigeria. At the prevailing global carbon market price of about $12.5/tCO2e, this could inject over $1.25 billion into the Nigerian economy from the sale of carbon credits generated. This would be in addition to investments that will flow into the implementation of clean energy technologies for the underlying CDM projects, which had been estimated to be in the excess of $ 18 billion.

Speaking on Carbon Market Development in Nigeria, Dayo explained that the increased flow of FDI would come not only from investments in the underlying clean energy projects, but also from revenue that would be generated from sale of carbon credits resulting from such green projects.

His words: "The organised private sector in Nigeria has a critical role to play if the goal of expanding the current marginal participation of Nigerian businesses in the global carbon market is to be realised. The aggressive participation of the Nigerian organised private sector in the global carbon market will catalyse the emergence of unilateral CDM project development in Nigeria, which will facilitate the realisation of identified potentials. There is strong evidence that India's private sector patronised unilateral CDM strategies, which contributed in no small way to the success of CDM in India."

Some of the recommendation which, according to Dayo would assist in increasing CDM project activities in Nigeria, include strengthening and revamping the designated national authority institutional infrastructure, revamping existing national regulatory framework to promote carbon investment in Nigeria, linking national investment promotion and economic development planning to the opportunities of the global carbon market, and promoting awareness of the benefits of the global carbon market among Nigerian financial sector stakeholders.

Chairman, Nigerian Environment Study/Action Team (NEST) Prof. David Okali, noted that what was required was awareness-creation to be able to attract the right investors into the carbon market and CDM projects.

Earlier, Director, ICEED, Mr. Ewah Eleri noted that the recent reports on the United States' ambitious plan to invest in clean energy and reduce dependence on foreign oil portends great danger to the economic stability and growth in Nigeria.

He described Nigeria's economy as climate constrained and faces an uncertain future. "Climate change is already reducing water levels in Jebba, Kainji and Shiroro power stations. The threats to Nigeria's major income stream and electric power supply make climate change one of the most important challenges facing the Nigerian economy today.

"The private sector must turn the climate challenge into fresh opportunities. Clean energy, the carbon market, real estate and new insurance products are a few of these potentials investment opportunities," he said.