Buhari Departs Nigeria For Paris

President Muhammadu Buhari will leave for Paris, France on Monday to join 50 other world leaders to participate in the One Planet Summit on Tuesday.

The President, who will be accompanied by the governors of Adamawa, Kano and Ondo States, and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Environment. He will return to Abuja on Thursday.

The summit is jointly organised by the United Nations, the World Bank Group, and the French Government in partnership with non-governmental organisations.

The summit which concerns reversing the negative effects of climate change, will take place at the eco-friendly La Seine Musicale, situated on the picturesque Seguin Island in western Paris.

The theme of the summit is “Climate Change Financing.” .

According to the organisers, the summit will “innovatively pool public and private finance to support and accelerate our common efforts to fight climate change”.

While recognising that all countries are affected by the effects of climate change under “One Planet”, but some are more vulnerable, organisers noted.

The summit seeks for tangible collective action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A statement by Mr Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), said President Buhari will attend a lunch hosted by President Emmanuel Macron of France for Heads of State and Governments at the Elysee Palace.

President Buhari and other world leaders and participants will make presentations under four sub-themes.

They are Scaling-up Finance for Climate Action; Greening Finance for Sustainable Business; Accelerating Local and Regional Climate Action; and Strengthening Policies for Ecological and Inclusive Transition.

President Buhari signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change at the side-lines of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 22, 2016.

He noted then that the country’s signature “demonstrated Nigeria’s commitment to global efforts to reverse the effects of the negative trend”.

He followed that significant step by signing the Instrument of Ratification of the Paris Agreement on March 28, 2017 at the State House, Abuja, making Nigeria the 146th party to the Paris Treaty.

It became binding on the country effective June 15, 2017, one month after the submission of the Ratification instrument to the United Nations on May 16, 2017 by Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande.

The participation of Nigeria’s delegation at the One Planet Summit will reinforce the country’s commitment to realising the objectives of the Paris Agreement.