COP29: FG announces cost-cutting measures to save ₦10bn

The Federal Government has announced the implementation of cost-cutting measures aimed at saving at least ₦10bn as Nigeria prepares to participate in the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP29, in November.

The annual global event will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11th to 22nd November 2024.

Nigeria’s Special Envoy on Climate Change and Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, announced the new directives while briefing State House Correspondents at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday.

Ngelale said the measures include scrapping payments for a showcase pavilion that cost Nigeria about $500,000 at the 2023 Climate Change Summit, COP28, in Dubai.

Instead, the delegation’s office will house all necessary engagements for the 11-day summit.

He explained, “With all of the savings through the provision and implementation of the climate accountability and transparency portal, as well as our active reduction of expenditure items identified in the COP28 spending profile, we have positioned ourselves to save this country over ₦10bn during this 11-day event in November.”

The Presidential Envoy stated that the new directives became necessary after an audit of COP28 spending revealed “wasteful” elements, such as the purchase of a showcase pavilion and other ancillary items.

“We found through our audit that during COP28 in Dubai, there were significant expenditures on platforms that proved, in our view, to be wasteful. So ahead of COP29, we have resolved and concluded that there will be no showcase pavilion as part of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s cost reduction efforts.

“We recognise that what can be achieved with a showcase pavilion can be accomplished more economically by effectively utilising the on-site delegation office within the conference complex, and this we will do. We have found that by taking this option, the nearly $500,000 showcase pavilion purchased for last year’s COP28 will no longer be an expenditure item for COP29.

“In addition, the delegates’ office that we will be using to conduct bilateral meetings and other meetings, which would otherwise have been conducted in the showcase pavilion, will be held in the Delegates’ Office at less than 10 per cent of the cost of the showcase pavilion,” he explained.

He affirmed that anyone not engaged in activities directly linked to attracting business opportunities into the country “will not be part of the Federal Government’s delegation this time around.”

The Presidential aide also announced the creation of an accountability portal where Nigerians can access conference information, including details of government-sponsored officials at COP28 and spending on the conference.

“The National Council on Climate Change, in collaboration with my office, has established the Climate Accountability and Transparency Portal, which will, among other things, ensure that all members of the delegation across ministries, departments, and agencies, as well as the legislative branch of government, are captured on a transparent portal.

“This will mean that Nigerians will have full and real-time access to the numbers of those attending and those whom the government is sponsoring to COP29. This will also ensure that anyone attending this conference has an economic imperative to be there,” said Ngelale.

Last December, Nigerians criticised the Tinubu administration for sponsoring at least 1,114 delegates to the United Nations’ annual climate summit, COP28, in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

Although the FG said it sponsored only 422 delegates, reports indicated it spent ₦2.78bn on airfares and estacodes.

The new directive comes just days after President Tinubu barred all officials with no direct function at the United Nations General Assembly from attending the event held in New York, USA, in September.

Details shortly…