…As VC seeks agencies’ collaboration to facilitate NCA development

By Chris Ochayi

Determined to achieve low carbon emission climate-resilient the Federal Government has declared its preparedness to conduct natural capital accounting with a view to mainstreaming it into national policies and plans.

Minister of Environment Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, who disclosed this at theTraining/workshop on Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services Accounting, in Abuja, noted that the process if properly conducted would attract investors in the various sectors.

Dr. Abubakar explained that the government was already creating an in-house technical/expert working group to facilitate this objective

The two-day workshop titled “Towards Nan.al Capital Accounting for Nigeria” was organized by the Resources and Environmental Policy Reasearch Centre, REPRC, University of Nigeria, Nnsuka, in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Environment, with support from the World Bank.

According to the minister, “If we are able to conduct our natural capital accounting properly and effectively mainstream it into national policies and plans in the different sectors; it will attract investors in the various sectors and equally enhance our low carbon emission climate-resilient development.”

Represent by Dr. Salihu Dahiru, the minister pointed out that the “Ministry will continue to provide all the necessary support to ensure that Nigeria fully develops natural capital and ecosystem services accounts and mainstream them into our national policies and plans.

“Already, we are creating an in-house technical/expert working group to facilitate this objective. We will also help mobilize other relevant ministries and agencies to ensure that Nigeria fully realizes this initiative.

“Let me seize this opportunity to appreciate the development partners especially the World Bank for the support and unflinching interest in ensuring that Nigeria has an acceptable natural capital accounting.

“I encourage them to continue supporting Nigeria and ensure it becomes a core implementing country under the global partnership on sustainability (GPS) to develop natural capital accounts and facilitate it’s mainstreaming into national policies and plans.

“The Bank has continued to promote and finance investments in the national capital accounting. One of such investments is the upcoming Agro climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Lands (ACReSAL) project which emphasizes the imperatives of natural capital accounting for the sustainable management of the environment.”

The minister recalled that “Our country as we all know, is endowed with abundant human and natural resources, the interplay of which should constitutes its economic strength. Unfortunately, the national economic performance re orts have always side-stepped the valuable contributions from the natural ecosystems.

“Let me say that this.not peculiar to Nigeria alone. It is a global Oversight that needs to be corrected. The stock and flows f natural resources and the services they provide to human survival i.1 a given ecosystem are too invaluable to be ignored.

“Their contribution has been made possible by the resilience of the ecosystem which is being promoted under the various climate action programmes.

“Attempts have been made in the past to undertake the natural capital accounting both at national and subnational levels, but these do not seem to yield positive results.

“The only successful attempt similar to the accounting was the forest valuation study undertaken in Cross River State under the UNREDD Programme with the support of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2015.

“The feedbacks from the wide stakeholders’ review of the final report of the forest valuation unanimously pointed to under-valuation of forest resources.

“This is an eye opener to all of us, that in our ongoing renewed efforts, the vital elements of what constitute stock and flows should be carefully identified and included in the basket. I am aware that priority areas have been identified during the development of a roadmap for NCA in Nigeria in 2020.”

In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor of University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Professor Charles Arizechukwu Igwe, lamented that despite the global acceptance, natural capital is not fully accounted for in Nigeria’s national accounts and policy decisions

Accounting to him, “I wish to state that accounting for natural capital following the System of National Accounts (SNA) is accepted globally, given that the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, does not tell the whole story of the status of a country’s economy.

“This is because the stock of capital, degradation of natural resources (which provide many benefits) and ecosystem services are not generally accounted for in the GDP.”

Represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration, Professor Pat Okpoko, the Vice Chancellor however, noted that, “Despite the global acceptance, natural capital is not fully accounted for in Nigeria’s national accounts and policy decisions.

“They are neither captured in the financial calculation of Nigeria’s wealth nor explicitly considered assets in national planning with the risk that natural capital is degraded over time, resulting in the loss of benefits to the economy.

“For NCA to be effective there is a need for the government to commit to it, especially in setting up the processes and making available the human resources needed and ensuring that the different agencies work together to facilitate the development of natural capital accounts for Nigeria.

“Also, developing the account is not enough. There is also a need to identify the key issues that the accounts will inform and the types of analysis and modelling that would use the accounting information to facilitate the formulation of evidence-based policies and mainstreaming into national plans and processes.

“Therefore, effort should be made by the government and all stakeholders to build on what has been done already.

“I urge all the participants to take advantage of the opportunity provided by this workshop and draw from the resource persons’ expertise to develop the needed capacity for natural capital accounting in Nigeria.

“I hope that through these actions, Nigeria will become a core implementing country under the global partnership on sustainability, GPS, to facilitate further development of natural capital accounts and it’s mainstreaming into national policies and plans.”