Experts at Nextier’s 102nd Power Dialogue have Identified harmonising environmental laws, research and development and sync between the federal and state levels of environmental laws and taking a bet on Nigerian ideas as a way that will help enforce climate obligation in Nigeria’s industries.
Moderated by Muhammed Sanusi, chief executive officer, UpwardEco Limited, the 102nd Power Dialogue had a panel of experts that included Awele Ikobi-Anyali, head of legal the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) Secretariat, Ejikeme Patrick Nwosu, chief executive officer, Lumos Laboratories and Seyifunmi Adebote, Host of the Climate Talk Podcast.
Law harmonisation
Ikobi-Anyali stated the constitution does not singlehandedly state that environmental laws or provisions should be the sole jurisdiction of either the federal state or local government, which creates a barrier to harmonising environmental law. The federal government promulgated the NESREA Act, the Environment Impact Act, and the Climate Change Act of 2021, while the state has its environmental laws, and local governments can make by-laws.
She noted at the Power Dialogue that harmonising the different environmental laws from the different tiers of government will help industries understand and comply with the harmonised law and reduce the challenges faced by the industries in determining which law to obey.
She said that the lack of harmonisation of the law brings divergence among various domestic procedural regulations and a lack of legislative framework on harmonisation. She added that the effect of international obligation on domestic laws is a legal barrier to the process of harmonisation.
According to Ikobi-Anyali, environmental laws are tied to international obligations and the interpretation of the international court, noting that Nigeria may want to harmonise environmental law.
She added that legal research is important, stating that it should be carried out to identify gaps in the law. She called for improved capability building to conduct legal research for the harmonisation processes. She noted that for legal research to be carried out, all the laws will be reviewed, and stakeholders’ engagement will also be carried out, which requires funding.
She also called for the establishment of green banks, grants and subsidies, tax incentives, and technology transfer for legal incentives to thrive based on the legal framework.
Importance of research and development (R&D)
Meanwhile, Nwosu noted that the unified environmental standards impact on the innovative waste-to-energy project will provide two results: reduction in time and cost. He noted that if there is a unified system where the environmental standards can be done with less human contact, like going online and downloading the document, checking the document, and verifying it online, this will reduce the cost and time.
He stated that most agencies in the country are only interested in revenue generation from Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) but could care less whether the job is actually done. He stated that experts are needed to get the job done and reward them based on deliverables.
He added that the technological and financial mechanisms that scale innovative solutions include funding, advocacy, and patronage. He stated that funding research and development (R&D) will help keep people in business.
According to Nwosu, Huawei’s research and development (R&D) expenditure in 2019, exceeded Nigeria’s entire national budget, highlighting the significant gap in innovation investment. This disparity underscores a crucial point: competitive advantages in today’s global economy are largely driven by substantial R&D investments, an area where Nigeria currently lags behind.
He said, “It is when you invest in R&D that you come out with wonderful products,” adding that he has not received a dime from the Nigerian government to support R&D, even the one he received outside the country. When I got the money, FIRS called me to pay tax, which was terrible. “
Holding industries accountable
During the Power Dialogue discussions, Adebote said that based on the nation-determined contribution, Nigeria’s industries emitting carbon include the oil and gas, Agriculture, Food and other land-used sectors (AFOLU), the Power sector, the Waste sector and the Water sector.
He noted that legal frameworks, such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), check industries’ activities on the environment and their impact on people’s lives. He said that if the government approves the project, it will hold the organisation accountable for the plan to mitigate the project’s impact on humans and the environment.
He noted that policies like the national policy on climate change and the NESREA act established NESREA, the government agency that enforces laws on wildlife, agriculture, oil and gas, and the sectors that intersect with the environment. NESREA has been empowered to ensure that those regulations are upheld.
He stated that there is a single regulatory body at the federal level, NESREA. The body can work across all the existing climate or environmental policies to enforce the law and ensure that the industries do the right things. He stated there is no sync between the federal and state levels, making it difficult for the federal policies and directives to go down to the local level.
He stated that it takes states that have foresight, are concerned about the state of their environment, and are up to date with the climate impact of industries that come into the state to ensure that the industries are doing the right thing.
He added that there is a need to establish that bridge so that NESREA’s power can be derived down to the state level and policies from the federal government, like the Climate Change Act of 2021, can be conceptualised at the state level.
He noted that the act could not be taken in totality; for example, in an oil-producing state, the act would mean something different from a state experiencing deforestation, and their priorities would be different. He stated that Nigerians should be ready to bet on their ideas, innovations, and technologies to reduce carbon emissions.
He noted that Nigerians should not continue waiting for the Global Environmental Fund (GEF), Green Climate Fund, and other international investors to take a bet on Nigerian ideas. He insisted that Nigerian investors, Nigerian Banks, and other financial institutions should be able to bet on Nigerian ideas and see that they thrive.