By MUHYIDEEN JIMOH

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday positioned Nigeria as a prime destination for climate and green energy investment, unveiling sweeping reforms at the 2026 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW).

Tinubu spoke during a high-level session of the summit in Abu Dhabi, attended by global leaders, investors, policymakers and development partners.

He thanked the organisers and the United Arab Emirates for convening the global platform, describing ADSW as critical to shaping the future of sustainable development.

He said, “The theme of this year’s summit underscores the urgency and integration required to drive sustainable transitions across finance, technology, energy and human capital.”

Tinubu said climate action must now be integrated with economic growth, health, food security and energy governance across nations.

He added, “At this defining moment in history, Nigeria stands with the global community, aligning climate action with energy access, economic growth, job creation and social inclusion.”

Tinubu stressed that sustainability requires all systems to move together, including policy, finance, infrastructure, nature and human capital.

He said, “Climate action must succeed and grow. Developing countries require equitable climate finance, accessible technologies and robust capacity building.”

The president said Nigeria had taken concrete regulatory steps to strengthen climate governance and investor confidence.

He said the government adopted the National Carbon Market Activation Policy and launched a National Carbon Registry to improve emissions reporting and verification.

Tinubu said Nigeria was modernising its energy architecture to translate climate ambition into measurable impact.

He added, “The Electricity Act of 2023 now provides for decentralised and inclusive energy delivery.”

He said the reforms were expanding access to sustainable power for rural communities, off-grid health facilities, schools, markets and underserved populations.

Tinubu said the country was deploying advanced technologies to improve efficiency and accelerate clean energy delivery nationwide.

The president added, “The adoption of artificial intelligence to optimise efficiency is no longer a future concept.”

He said Nigeria was actively seeking partnerships that promote technology transfer, innovation and knowledge exchange.

The president said climate and green industrialisation investments were central to Nigeria’s development strategy.

He disclosed that Nigeria had launched a climate and green industrialisation investment framework to unlock up to 30 billion dollars annually in climate finance.

Tinubu said Nigeria was deepening access to green finance through multiple investment platforms.

“Our climate investment platform targets 500 million dollars for climate-resilient infrastructure,” the president added.

He said Nigeria’s national climate platform aimed to support two billion dollars in capital investments, stating that Nigeria’s green bond programme demonstrated strong global investor confidence.

According to him, Nigeria’s sovereign green bond had attracted significant oversubscription from international investors.

The president said Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan integrates climate mitigation, industrial growth and social development into one framework.

He said the plan targeted net-zero emissions while delivering universal energy access and economic expansion.

Tinubu said pilot electric mobility projects and national energy efficiency programmes were already underway.

He said, “Nation-building requires hard work, sacrifice and focused leadership.”

Tinubu said Nigeria’s reforms signalled readiness to work with global partners to drive sustainable development outcomes.

“As your partner, Nigeria is open for investment, collaboration and shared prosperity,” he said. (NAN)

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