By Muhammad Hamisu Abdullahi
International Center for Energy, Environment and Development (ICEED) has collaborated with Nigerian Alliance for Clean Cooking and Partnership for Agile Governance and Climate Change (PACE) to hold a one-day workshop to validate cooking finance plan in Kano State.
The center also collaborated with the state government to host the event.
It was facilitated under PACE Facilitating Clean Cooking Finance at National and Sub-National Levels project.
The event was held on Thursday, June 11, this year at Babale Suites in the state capital and the project combines national-level assessment of the clean carbon market with a sub-national finance planning process in the state.
The objective of the workshop was to validate the state plan and build stakeholder consensus on practical actions required to mobilise and coordinate finance for clean cooking access expansion in the state.
The workshop brought together stakeholders from the state government, relevant federal institutions, clean cooking sector actors, carbon market developers, financial institutions, development partners, civil society organizations, community-based actors as well as technical experts working on clean cooking, climate finance, carbon markets and energy access.
Speaking in his opening remarks, the Executive Director of the center, Mr. Ewah Eleri, narrated its history, saying that it was working around cooking energy.
Mr. Eleri, who expressed delight to be at the event, noted that 95,000 deaths occurred in the country as a result of cooking.
He said the above figure emanated from a finding of the United Nations, adding that smokes from the kitchen resulted to the deaths.
He said the choice of the state for the project was due to its large population or households.
He said the soaring prices of cooking gas had impacted negatively on the citizens of the country arising from US-Iran war.
In their goodwill messages, Malam Auwal Hamza of PACE, urged participants to work together to make the plan workable towards doing away with the menace of climate change in the state.
He hoped that the event would be used to improve funding which would in essence be channeled to improve upon climate action in the state.
On his part, the Director of Climate Change at the state Ministry of Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Dr. Umar Saleh Anka, who represented the commissioner of the ministry, Dr. Dahiru Muhammad Hashim, described the event as that of health-related issues rather than cooking in itself.
He said the state government was ready to own the plan and facilitate its implementation in the state.
While urging the participants to validate the plan with all intent and honesty, he said its outcomes would be fed into the ministry for proper implementation.
Speaking, the Co-Chair of the state Coalition on Climate Action and Inclusive Governance (KACIG), Dr. Muhammad Inuwa Shu’aibu, expressed delight for bringing the participants together to validate the plan.
He noted that a lot of ideas were brought forward, reiterating that the coalition had synergized with its stakeholders, like the state Refuse Management and Sanitation Board (REMASAB), to clean the state of pollution.
Dr. Jubril Adeojo, who spoke to the participants through a webinar, collaborated with Mr. Oluwapalumi Oluwatosin to make a presentation on ‘Overview of the Kano State Clean Cooking Finance Plan.
Closing the event, the Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, who is also the Deputy Government Co-Chair of KACIG, Alhaji Abba Danguguwa, reaffirmed that the coalition would champion the cause of the validation exercise.
He urged that the plan should be made to align with the policy of the state to enable its fast implementation.
According to him, with dedication, they will turn climate finance into cooking energy.