The Global Environment
Facility (GEF), a largest funder of environmental initiative, has approved 4.4 billion dollars about (N713.71 billon) to implement environmental projects in Nigeria in the next four years.
The Minister of Environment, Mrs Laurencia Mallam, disclosed this at a two-day GEF National Steering Committee Meeting in Abuja last Tuesday.
Mallam said the funding, approved at the just concluded replenishment meeting in Geneva by 30 donor countries, would be executed under the GEF-6 Cycle.
“It is an unprecedented landmark decision”, she said, adding that it represents an increase of 3.5 per cent over GEF-5 allocation.
She said the steering committee meeting was to ensure inclusiveness in the implementation of the GEF project.
“The meeting is one of the strategies which we have put in place to broaden engagement that will ensure inclusion of all stakeholders in the sector.
“Our priority remains actions that will contribute to the economic transformation of Nigeria as conceived under the Vision 20:2020,’’ the minister said.
According to her, Nigeria’s participation in the GEF programmes is one of the major ways of ensuring that environmental challenges, with global dimension, are adequately addressed at the country level.
Mallam noted that the social and economic consequences of environmental challenges were not restricted to any particular country or region, thereby requiring collaborative action to contain.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mrs Rabi Jimeta, said GEF had served as financial mechanism to achieving obligations of relevant conventions within the focal areas of the facility.
Represented by Mr Danjuma Dauda, the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics in the ministry, Jimeta said that GEF projects had supported the poor and marginalised communities.
“Around 113 GEF Small Grant Projects have been executed in over 23 states to drive home initiatives that improved the state of environment in poor communities through Non-Government Organisations.
“I believe, therefore, that the issues can be effectively addressed if broad coalition of stakeholders like the one we have here, gather around a common action agenda.
“ To exchange ideas on how best Nigeria can benefit from GEF funding towards ameliorating identified national, regional and global environmental problems,’’ she said. Also speaking, Dauda, represented by Mr Philip Bankole, urged the stakeholders to share practical experiences that would help in implementing GEF projects in the country.
It also said that resources managed by AFDB for GEF had leveraged over 1.2 billion dollars in co-financing from the AFDB’s own resources, Africa governments and the private sector.
It explained that the well diversified portfolio among sectors highlighted the fact that half of its activities  were geared toward adaptation to climate change.
“It is my hope that lessons learnt along the way shall be transformed into effective tools of utilizing available resources towards attaining the Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government,” he said.