Climate Watch: SON inaugurates bioclimatic testing chamber to cut carbon emissions

Despite directly impacting our communities, health, and livelihood, climate-related reports usually take a back seat to dominant news beats like politics and business. Climate Watch aims to ensure you never miss important stories on climate change and actions being taken toward limiting its impacts.

Here is a round-up of last week’s climate stories:

• The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in partnership with the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP) on September 21, inaugurated a bioclimatic testing chamber for air-conditioners (AC) to reduce carbon emissions. The initiative is funded by the European Union (EU) and the German government within the framework of the NESP, a programme in collaboration with the federal ministry of power. Farouk Salim, SON director general, said the initiative would help the government and private sector to create an enabling environment for renewable energy markets in the country. Salim said the facility would offer opportunities in the areas of testing energy efficiency, climatic adaptation as well as the durability and reliability of the air conditioning units. He added that SON would soon place a ban on the importation of non-energy-friendly equipment into the country.
• At the 2023 Gastech exhibition and conference in Singapore, Philip Mshelbila, managing director of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Ltd, said natural gas could create affordable access to clean energy. Mshelbila said it is necessary for Africa to adopt a multidimensional approach to the energy transition and utilise gas as a cleaner alternative to traditional biomass and coal. Mshelbila said transitioning from polluting sources to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) could reduce emissions by about 48 percent. Read more here.
• Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), on September 18, said concrete climate action is needed at COP28. Stiell said the transition to low emissions is an urgent but difficult task, adding that adequate financing is required to successfully tackle the climate crisis. He said more transparency and accountability would offer opportunities for accelerated implementation of climate ambitions, adding that courageous leaders are needed to “hunt for solutions”. Read more here.
• At the climate ambition summit in New York, Kenyan President William Ruto said Africa needed fairness in the international market as against the “handouts” they constantly receive from developed nations. Ruto said the continent wanted a fair financial system, fair access to the market for green assets and an equitable deployment of capital. He called for the scale-up of concessional financing by at least $500 billion per year for Africa. Read more here.
• Speaking at the summit, António Guterres, United Nations secretary general, said “humanity has opened the gates of hell” and is pushing towards a dangerous and unstable world. Guterres said the scale of the challenges has “dwarfed” climate actions. He said the world still has the capacity to course correct if only global leaders would take action and support developing countries in addressing the crises. Guterres said governments must take “immediate steps” to rescue the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and find joint financing solutions to rebuild global solidarity and create new momentum for climate action. Read more here.
• Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), also said the institution would provide $25 billion in climate finance by 2025. Adesina said climate change has devastating impacts on African economies but the continent receives only three percent of total global climate finance. He said AfDB will support Guterres’ agenda to deliver climate adaptation and early warning systems for all by responding to climate financing challenges. The AfDB president said the institution has launched several initiatives to expand Africa’s access to financing for climate adaptation and investments. Find out more here.