Research Paper on "How Has Clean Development Mechanism Created Power Sustainability in Nigeria"

Research Paper 10 pages (4741 words) Sources: 10

[EXCERPT] . . . .

clean development mechanism created power sustainability in Nigeria?

In this paper, we discuss how CDM is creating sustainability in Nigeria. Various existing and proposed projects are analyzed in order to gauge the extent of CDM implementation in Nigeria. The drawbacks to the process of implementation studied and recommendations given.

The change in climate has become a major source of concern for the contemporary global society. The major problem emanates from the fact that various human activities are the main contributing factors to the climatic change via the emissions of greenhouse gasses that eventually cause global warming as well as climatic change. The global community has evidently acknowledged the phenomenon of climate change as a major global issue in 1992 (Mwinzi & Massawa, 2009).This was through the adoption of the UNFCCC at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit. Two broad strategies were adopted in this convention. They were; to mitigate as well as to adapt to the various effects of change in climate as well the setting of targets to be achieved by industrialized states for use in stabilizing the level of emission. It is worth pointing out that these strategies were never legally binding. The various level of evidence that exists on anthropogenic effects on climatic change as well as the seemingly irreversible nature of the effects of climatic change prompted the international community to come up with the Kyoto Protocol later in 1997.The Kyoto protocol has legally binding targets of emission for the industrialized nations that are most responsible for the highest levels of green house gasses in the atmosphere. The implementation cost factor has however led to a widespread concern and the inclusion of flexibility on the methods of meeting the set targets. Various flexibility mechanisms like the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) were then established under Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol in order to allow the various industrialized nations with commitment to emission reduction to engage in trading in the Green House Gas emissions (IPCC, 2007). The Article 12 of Kyoto Protocol

is the one that established the Clean Development Mechanism which does provide an opportunity for various developed countries (referred as the Annex B. Parties) to engage in mitigation commitments. The two main objectives of the CDM are:

To aid the Annex I parties in the achievement of sustainable development as well as the contribution to Convention's ultimate objective.

To aid the Annex I

parties in the achievement of compliance with the emission limitations that are quantified as well as the commitments of emission reduction.

Overview of the clean development mechanism

The CDM was put in place in order to help industrialized countries to meet their various targets for emission through the employment of emission reduction strategies as well as earnings referred to as 'credits' for their efforts of reducing emissions. This applies for the North and the South countries. For the Southern countries, the merits are gained through activities that are geared towards the reduction of the fossil fuel combustion such as kerosene, coal, oil and gas. It can also be achieved by reducing the levels of methane emissions or improving the patterns of land-use which leads to the attraction of more investments. The investments that are correlated directly to the level of reduced emissions leads to increased viability of businesses in the South. The fundamental requirements of the CDM activities are twofold; the first on is that it has to meet specific environmental criteria that is measurable. The second one is that it has to fit in perfectly well with the development priorities of the host country. The benefits that the host country enjoys are positive improvements to its environments such as reduced water and air pollution as well as reduced level of land degradation. In socio-economic terms, there is job creation. The CDM mechanism has been viewed by numerous people, groups and organizations as a trailblazer (UNFCC, n.d).This is because it is the very first worldwide environmental investment as well as credit scheme in existence that provides a standardized offset instruments for gauging emissions, CERs. CDM may involve activities such as rural electrification projects through the use of solar panels or the use of boilers that are energy efficient.

The set mechanisms are used in the stimulation of sustainable development as well as the reduction of emissions. This is carried out while providing the industrialized nations with s certain level of flexibility on the part of the methods of reducing emissions or the limitation of targets.

Carbon Trust ( 2009, p. 14) clearly stated that one of the objectives of CDM is the realized by allowing the Countries in Annex I to fulfill the part of their cap via a "Certified Emission Reductions

" sourced from the projects aimed at reducing emissions in the developing countries (Such as Nigeria).

On the contrary, the CDM does allow the various industrialized nations to invest in the process of emission reduction whenever it is cheapest on a global scale (Grubb, 2003). The activities aimed at reducing emissions are carried out through a concentration on energy efficiency, renewable energy as well as fuel switching as pointed out by (World Bank, 2010). There are however several weaknesses in the CDM framework (World Bank, 2010, p. 256). Most of these issues are however identified by a special modality referred to as Program of Activities (PoA) which is concerned with the accreditation of a bundle of projects as opposed to a single one.

CDM projects in Nigeria

The following is a list of Clean Development Management projects in Nigeria:

Generation of electricity with less carbon-intensive fuels as well as displacing grid/off-grid steam. This plant is located in Aba, Nigeria and it is funded by the World Bank. The assessment period for this project was in 2006. The other CDM project in Nigeria is the Transmission and Distribution losses reduction project established in Nigeria, bankrolled by the World Bank and assessed in the year 2006. Both of the above projects are energy efficiency projects. Other CDM projects in Nigeria are: Recovery of Associated Gas at Kwale processing plant, located in Delta State, Nigeria; Ovade-Ogharefe Gas Capture project located in Delta State; Lafarge Cement (WAPCO) at Sagamu (Kleiser,2006;UNEP,2008)

Barriers to CDM in Nigeria-national barriers

Nations in Africa may be hindered from acquiring benefits from the Clean Development Mechanism by some factors and reasons as outlined below:

Some barriers/hindrances to successful implementation and development of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects are: investment and financial barriers, environment and energy information, transfer of technology as well as legislative / legal issues. Technology transfer means the proliferation of technology across the frontiers/boundaries of two or more entities. Technology transfer plays a key role in the development of any country's economy. Nigeria has signed the Kyoto Protocol and is hence a party to the Kyoto Protocol and therefore no policy barrier to the importation of CDM by Nigeria. An example that will be considered here is acquisition of CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) by a company known as Tower Aluminum Extrusion Company in Nigeria and according to interviews, this company needs CDM to minimize emission of Green House Gases (GHGs) from their industries as well as improve efficiency of energy in their operations. According to responses from the company, if CDM is implemented at Tower Aluminum factories, carbon-dioxide emissions and pollution of atmosphere will be reduced. However, the following barriers were identified towards the adoption of CDM at the Tower Aluminum Company (Dayo,2001):

Financial Constraints hindered the implementation of CDM and was rated as the most serious barrier.

An unclear and amorphous (uncertain and undefined) national policy regarding issues of climate change.

Inadequate access to relevant technical information for use in making technical decisions.

Poor negotiation and bargaining skills for CDM technology ownership.

Low quality and quantity of manpower.

There are also several legal barriers towards adoption of CDM in Nigeria and these are as follows: Nigeria has had interest in co-operating with the international community so as to protect the environment as the many international agreements to which she is party actually reveal. CDM implementation is an obligation emanating from without, and therefore this means that it has to be translated to national legislation before a framework can be established for support of the same. Can the domestic legislative process accommodate the CDM obligation? Obligations undertaken under foreign agreements cannot be adopted as domestic law. Lack of an enabling legal framework for connection between government ministries and agencies in Nigeria also hinder implementation of CDM.

In companies in Nigeria, one of the barriers towards implementation of CDM is financial incapability. The availability of funds for expansion projects or for industrial capacity development is almost nonexistent. Industrial development loans that ought to be availed by the Nigeria Industrial Development Bank are not readily available.

International barriers to development of Clean Development Mechanism in Nigeria

International barriers to CDM in Nigeria

International barriers to development of Clean Development Mechanism in Nigeria do in actual fact affect the spread of CDM project activities. These barriers can include buyer/investor… READ MORE

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