Balarabe Lawal, Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, has highlighted the country’s critical energy crisis, revealing that only one in ten households utilizes clean energy sources and technologies for cooking.
In a press release issued in Abuja on Saturday, Lawal stressed the urgent need for change, noting that traditional cooking methods involving firewood, kerosene, and charcoal are detrimental to health, contribute to deforestation, and exacerbate climate change.
“The impact of traditional cooking methods is significant—claiming lives, burdening women, and harming the environment.
“The implementation of clean cooking solutions will save lives, empower women and youths, and address climate change,” Lawal said.
The National Clean Cooking Policy of Nigeria, approved by the Federal Executive Council on March 25, 2024, is set to play a pivotal role in transforming the country’s cooking practices.
The policy aims to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, enhance public health, create jobs, protect the environment, and reduce deforestation.
The policy’s goals include achieving access to clean cooking energy solutions by 2030, with a focus on the Energy Transition Plan and Nigeria’s commitment to a carbon-neutral future by 2060.
Key components of the policy include a target of 20 per cent clean cooking from electric sources, 54 per cent from Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), 13 per cent from fuel-efficient biomass cookstoves, and smaller shares from biogas and agricultural waste briquettes.
Lawal emphasized that the policy aligns with Nigeria’s updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), the National Climate Change Policy, the Climate Change Act, and the National Gas Policy.
The policy was initially unveiled at the 17th session of the National Council on Environment on April 24, 2024, and formally launched at the National Clean Cooking Fair on July 18, 2024.
The Minister also announced that the implementation of this policy is expected to generate around 10 million direct jobs for young people.
These jobs will span various sectors, including the assembly of local raw materials and, the production, and distribution of clean cookstoves.
”We are also collaborating with local clean cookstove manufacturers and exploring opportunities for carbon credit earnings through the development of a national carbon market framework,” he stated.
Furthermore, Lawal indicated that the ministry is engaging with development partners like the World Bank to support and achieve the policy’s objectives, which he noted is in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
”The National Clean Cooking Policy represents a significant step towards sustainable development and improved quality of life for Nigerians,” he added.
Meanwhile, in a bid to enhance climate governance across Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Environment and the Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP) have jointly announced a pioneering project to evaluate and rank the climate governance performance of the country’s 36 states.
Scheduled for July 2024, the initiative aims to provide a comprehensive assessment that highlights states’ efforts in addressing climate change impacts and implementing sustainable policies.
The decision to undertake the evaluation was reached during an inaugural coordination meeting of climate change desk officers from Nigerian states, hosted by the Department of Climate Change in Abuja.
