GEAPP said the choice of Mr Osinbajo as a Global Advisor was informed by the former Vice President's "phenomenal advocacy" prowess.
Nigeria's immediate past Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has been appointed as a "Global Advisor" on clean and sustainable energy access by the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) to meet critical climate goals during the next decade.
The organisation announced Mr Osinbajo's appointment during a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday.
GEAPP is an international agency funded by the Rockefeller, IKEA Foundation and the Bezos Earth Fund.
Why Osinbajo?
In his remarks, Simon Harford, GEAPP chief executive officer, said the choice of Mr Osinbajo as a Global Advisor was informed by the former Vice President's "phenomenal advocacy" prowess.
"His Excellency is a phenomenal advocate, champion and case study for how a government, region and continent should think about this (climate change). That way of thinking, harnessing governments, and working together as governments is an enormous skill and background that he has that we can benefit from at GEAPP," he said.
Mr Osinbajo served as Nigeria's two-term (2015-2023) Vice President under the immediate past administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Within this period, he championed the country's Energy Transition Implementation Working Group (ETWG), birthed Nigeria's Energy Transition Plan (ETP).
Inaugurated last August at a global virtual event, the ETP is a homegrown, data-backed, and multi-pronged strategy developed for the attainment of a 2060 net-zero emissions commitment pronounced by Mr Buhari during his remarks at COP26 in Scotland in 2021.
The ETP commitments are in five critical sectors -- Power, Cooking, Oil and Gas, Transport and Industry. Nigeria needs 410 billion dollars to deliver the Transition Plan by 2060.
Prospects
While accepting the appointment, Mr Osinbajo noted that there was a need for governments of many developing countries to understand the economic opportunities that lie in climate action.
"Perhaps this is the only way this makes more sense to governments. If you look at the pace at which climate action has gone, it is way behind the urgency of the matter," he said.
Mr Osinbajo said: "I believe we have an opportunity to do a lot more in terms of sensitising governments to the need to act quickly, urgently and act together."
The former vice president hinted that the African continent could drive the solution to climate change whilst ensuring a just energy transition journey.
"It is evident that given its huge renewable energy resources, the largest carbon sinks in the world, enormous natural resources and a large youth population, we (Africa) can be the solution to climate change," he said.
This, he said, can be achieved by forbidding growth along the carbon-intensive pathway of wealthier economies and adopting climate-positive growth policies.
"...we play a critical role in ensuring that global net zero is possible by 2050. Second, climate action can indeed be the job engine for Africa," Mr Osinbajo said.
He stated further that Africa could lead the way in tackling climate change by leveraging its renewable energy potential, young workforce, green technologies, carbon removal and green manufacturing.
"In other words, Africa can provide jobs for millions of its young people, prosper and lead in the fight against climate change by becoming perhaps the first green or carbon-free civilisation. And we have the comparative advantage to do so," Mr Osinbajo said.
He emphasised that building a climate-positive growth future in a just energy future that includes energy access at all levels and drives economic growth in developing countries requires international consensus, collaboration and investment.
"As Vice President, I worked extensively with the team towards creating a pathway that ensures Nigeria achieves its goal of net zero emissions by 2060. This work eventually resulted in Nigeria's Energy Transition Plan (ETP), a data-based, strategic, clean energy transition plan in Africa, and the Energy Transition Office, which worked tirelessly towards successfully implementing the plan," he said.
Challenges
Mr Osinbajo said the twin problems of energy access and climate change cannot be solved independently by developing countries.
"I saw this first-hand while working on Nigeria's decarbonisation journey plan. We need partners at different levels," he said.
Mr Osinbajo said there was still much to be done with the current energy transition to preserve the planet.
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This transition process, he said, affords us (countries) the opportunity to address climate change and expand energy access for all, regardless of their geographical location or socio-economic background.
About GEAP
The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAP) was launched at the 26th edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) with aligned investments of over $10 billion, including a commitment of up to $1.5 billion from their three anchor partners, as well as nearly $9 billion in aligned investments from their eight investment partners, the organisers said.
In a statement issued by the group, a copy of which was obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, it mentioned some of its anchor partners, including the African Development Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the British International Investment, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, and the World Bank.
Their common mission is to enable emerging economies to shift to a clean energy, pro-growth model that accelerates universal energy access and inclusive economic growth while supporting the global community to meet critical climate goals during the next decade, the group said.
