Buhari To Attend Climate Change Conference In Morocco

President Muhammadu Buhari will on Monday leave Abuja for Marrakech, Morocco, to attend a climate change conference.

Buhari will join world leaders at the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), also known as COP-22.

This is according to a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by Femi Adesina, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.

Adesina said the event would be taking place in Marrakech between November 14, 2016 and November 16, 2016.

He said President Buhari would participate in the official opening plenary on November 15, 2016 where he would deliver his national statement during the High Level Segment of COP 22.

According to him, the presidential address is expected to highlight, among other key issues, Nigeria’s unwavering commitment to implementing the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and policy actions aimed at tackling climate change through environmental sustainable efforts.

He said that the president would also use the occasion to rally international support for the clean-up of Ogoniland in the Niger Delta and the resuscitation of the Lake Chad Basin.

Adesina said while in Marrakech, the president would attend the Africa Day Commemoration at COP 22 with the theme, “Moving from Commitments to Action with Intended Nationally- Determined Contributions and African Renewable Energy Initiative.”

He said President Buhari would also attend the Summit of African Heads of State on the sidelines of the Climate Change conference.

The COP 22, will be attended by representatives from 197 countries including world leaders, environment ministers, government officials as well as a wide range of representatives from civil society and the private sector.

The conference is the first meeting of State Parties since the entry into force of the landmark Paris Agreement on November 4, 2016.

The legally binding international Agreement on climate change, among others, addresses issues of global warming, including its impact on food security and agriculture.

It would be recalled that President Buhari signed the Paris Agreement on Sept. 22, 2016, at the margins of the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“Buoyed by that commitment, the Nigerian delegation is optimistic that COP22 will provide a platform to promote and enhance delivery of the purpose-driven environmental sustainable agenda of the Federal Government,” Adesina added.