Osinbajo to attend UN Energy meeting in London

Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo will attend a series of meetings hosted by the United Nations to discuss issues around equitable energy transition.

Laolu Akande, Osinbajo’s spokesman, in a statement on Thursday, confirmed Osinbajo’s participation at the meeting organised by UN Energy on Friday, October 8, in London.

The meeting aims to bring together world leaders ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference to deliberate on the attainment of the global target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

According to the statement, the vice-president, who will represent President Muhammadu Buhari, has been vocal on the need to consider a gradual energy transition for developing nations even as developed countries wish to meet the net-zero emissions target.

“It would be recalled that the Vice-President, Prof. Osinbajo who had spoken earlier at the UN High-Level Dialogue on Energy has been articulating the Federal Government’s view that as the international community proceeds towards the Net-Zero emissions target,” the statement reads.

“There is the need to ensure that the transition is just and equitable taking into consideration the status of developing nations like Nigeria who will still depend on gas projects in the period of the transition.

“There have been concerns expressed by developing countries like Nigeria that the plan to defund gas projects by a number of developed countries and certain multilateral agencies could rub developing countries like Nigeria wrongly, especially as such countries only contribute very minimal percentage of the fossil fuel emissions.”

In March 2021, he had asked the European Union (EU) to preserve financing for gas projects in Nigeria and other developing countries during the transition to net-zero emission. 

The UN Energy meeting in London which Osinbajo is to attend looks like yet another opportunity to advocate for a gradual energy transition for Nigeria as well as other developing countries.