EU, UNEP to back Nigeria’s methane emission reduction efforts

The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have promised to collaborate with stakeholders in Nigeria’s climate sector to tackle methane emissions.

NAN reports that Marci Paranski, programme manager at the UNEP International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO), on Tuesday in Abuja addressed a capacity-building workshop for the Nigerian oil and gas sector.

Paranski said the workshop marked the launch of activities for Nigeria’s Emissions Reduction Programme.

The project, funded by the EU delegation to Nigeria and implemented by UNEP’s IMEO, seeks to establish a national baseline for methane emission in the country.

Paranski said the project will focus on the oil and gas, agriculture, and waste sectors, adding that it will last three years.

“Nigeria is pioneering a groundbreaking initiative in Africa, aiming to establish a national baseline for methane emissions,” Paranski said.

“This endeavour seeks to understand the contributions of the oil and gas sector, agriculture, and waste to national methane emissions over a one-year period.

“To achieve this, we will collaborate with various scientific partners within and outside Nigeria to scope out the study.

“Our capacity-building activities will include today’s oil and gas training workshop, among others.

“We’re working closely with partners at the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), the European Union Delegation (EUD), Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), and Carbon Limits.

“Together, we’ll provide training and capacity-building activities for civil servants, the private sector, and early-career scientists.”

Nkiruka Maduekwe, NCCC director-general, commended Nigeria’s commitment to reduce methane emissions by 2030.

Maduekwe said the capacity-building programme would help identify needed infrastructure, implement regulations, and utilise UNEP’s research outputs.

“Building on this momentum, the government introduced methane guidelines and gas flaring prevention regulations in 2023 to regulate the sector and reduce methane emissions,” she said.

“Methane is a short-lived yet extremely hazardous pollutant, earning it the label super pollutant.

“To address this, the NCCC secretariat, supported by the European Union and UNEP, is driving a capacity-building programme.

“This programme is crucial, as understanding the issues is essential to implementing research findings and effectively reducing methane emissions.”