President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the Doha Amendment of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations framework convention on Climate Change.
The Minister of Environment, Dr Mohammad Abubakar disclosed this on Friday night while briefing journalists in Kaduna State.
He said that by signing the amendment, Nigeria became the 144th country out of the 192 signatories to ratify the protocol which ended on Friday.
According to Abubakar, the Doha amendment takes effect on December 31.
“Today, Nigeria has ratified the Doha amendment to the Kyoto protocol. The genesis of the Doha amendment to the Kyoto protocol started in 1997 when 192 countries in a conference of parties on climate change under the United Nations framework on the convention of climate change came up with an agreement for the reduction ofgreenhouse gas emission by 5.2 per cent.
“And they were 192, of the 192, we need 144 countries to ratify the protocol before it comes into force.
“Because of the politics of the economy and all that, over time, some countries decided not to sign, some decided to pull out. All the time, the countries that were signing were trickling in.
READ ALSO: Lagos Pays N1bn Accrued Pension Rights For September
“Well, today, I can say Nigeria has a history, our president has become the champion of climate change.”
Then Minister noted that the protocol will assist Nigeria and other developing countries to tackle most of its environmental challenges.
The challenges, he stressed include gas emission, erosion, global warming, and reducing environmental temperature among others.
The 1997 Kyoto Protocol set binding climate targets for developed countries.
