The plan to commercialize gas flaring from oil fields in Nigeria is at an advanced phase and would help the country to take out about 15 million tonnes of carbon emissions from the atmosphere.
This is according to the statement made by the Minister of State Petroleum Resources; Timipre Sylva, after meeting U.S. climate envoy John Kerry, according to a Reuters report.
What this step means is that the monumental waste of valuable natural resources (gas) through flaring in Nigeria will be overhauled and used for productive purposes such as power generation, exportation, or conservation. This step will not only decarbonize the atmosphere but would also help generate some revenue as Nigeria loses about $1 billion in revenue annually due to flaring, which also adds to extreme environmental pollution in the oil-producing Niger Delta region.
Considering that several African countries signed the Paris Agreement to effectively and efficiently reduce carbon emissions, thus mitigating the devastating impacts of climate change in their respective countries, Nigeria’s step to curbing gas emissions will stimulate other African nations and impact how they will proceed with their plans.
Timipre Sylva asserted that there is some moral basis for Nigeria to get funding from rich nations to meet its climate change goals. He said “We are trying to bring down gas flaring. Gas flaring commercialization program is at an advanced stage, which is going to take out about 15 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere, which is one of our biggest contributions to global gas emissions.”
John Kerry, who asserted that Nigeria’s decision on commercialization of flaring will set the stage for other African countries said “what you decide to do in the future going forward will have a profound impact on the choices of all countries in Africa. And it will have a profound impact on our ability, all of us together, to solve this problem.”
