Ex-VP Osinbajo Advocates Climate Positive Growth In Africa

The former Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has advocated climate positive growth for job and wealth creation to deal with extreme poverty in Africa.

Osinbajo said this while speaking at the 23rd Chief S.L. Edu Memorial lecture on Tuesday in Lagos.

Climate positive growth is a way of measuring progress towards a more sustainable future by removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than is emitted. It’s also known as carbon negative growth.

The New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the memorial lecture was organised by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) in collaboration with Chevron.

Universalreporterng.com also reports that the lecture with the theme: “Greening Africa’s Economies: Can Climate Positive Growth Deliver Prosperity?, was delivered by Osinbajo.

He said Africa could help the world meet its net zero target by developing a green partner or climate positive growth.

“The important thing about this is that it will create jobs and wealth and deal with extreme poverty.

“And I think we should ask ourselves the question, why does the climate positive growth paradigm for development make sense?

“Why does it make sense for Africa to develop along the green economic paradigm? It is because we have climate competitiveness.

“That is to say that our economies will do better than most other economies if we grow green,” he said.

Osinbajo who said the world was increasingly paying for climate solutions noted that the world was changing their ideas on what to consume or whether it is green.

“The world increasingly pays for climate solutions and what I mean by this is that through consumer preferences, consumers in different parts of the world, of course, are changing their ideas about what they will consume, whether those things are green.

“There’s also a price on carbon. In many different economies today, there is a price on carbon. In other words, you are emitting carbon, you pay a price for it one way or the other.

“So, the places in the world that can provide green solutions, most cost-competitive, have a massive economic opportunity.

“So if in Africa we can produce any product that is competitive, green products that are competitive, we already have a massive economic advantage.

Osinbajo who said Africa had the key ingredients to be a major climate action powerhouse attributed these to untapped renewable energy, young entrepreneurial workforce, and relevant natural assets and resources,

“Indeed, late starters to industrialisation and our low-carbon footprint can actually be an advantage to us, enabling us to develop green-filled energy manufacturing.

“This will save us the cost of abandoned legacy carbon-intensive manufacturing projects.

“By pursuing an industrialisation pathway using renewable energy, of which we have 60 percent of the world’s potential, we can actually develop the first green industrial civilisation,” he said.

He said Africa could achieve economic growth without growing emissions or even keeping emissions constant.