The ordinary Nigerian has yet to understand the idea of climate change, but eco-emergencies around the country in recent times appear to have forced him to wake up to the truth that climate change is no longer just another Western idea but a global reality now felt and witnessed by Nigeria first hand. Everyday, our local media serve us with pictures of a flooded Lagos, Calabar, Ibadan, Katsina, Abeokuta and so on, and when we ask, "Whats going on'", the experts appear with the universal one-liner: "Our environment is feeling the heat of climate change!"Sadly enough, not much is done by the government and the people to join other nations in fighting this emerging monster called climate change which is showing its deadly claws through the eco-disasters we are witnessing of late. The Climate Change Commission Bill has not been passed by the National Assembly in order to initiate a coherent framework and platform for tackling the menace. The Ecological Fund is just like any other Nigerian fund: lying worthless and wasted. But most importantly, the Nigerian citizen has a zero capacity with regard to green lifestyle which incidentally is now the standard in the Western world, Asia and some parts of Africa.This is why it seems strange to start writing about carbon footprints, carbon trading and carbon credit offset, the Equator Principles, and other environmental jargons for the Nigerian audience. Meanwhile, they are terms used every day in the Western media, and which constitute a source of new wealth to emerging green businesses everywhere in the developed world today, and in some African countries like Kenya, South Africa and Malawi. Nonetheless, taking it for granted that Nigeria is a cash-based society, there is a language we all understand and that is the vocabulary of money; this is where sustainable finance comes in.A green bank is a new term for an ethical bank, also known as a social, alternative, civic, or sustainable bank; and it simply means a bank that is concerned with the social and environmental impacts of its investments and loans. Green banking involves the tenets of sustainability, ethical lending, conservation and energy efficiency. Today in Nigeria, our banks use the term sustainable finance to define their eco-friendliness. In a typical green economy, the banks design local frameworks for determining, assessing and managing environmental and social risks in project finance. In clearer terms, it means that the banks will not lend to firms that destroy the environment with their operations and will not lend to firms that do not protect the integrity of the ecosystem in their operations. Calling to mind the fact that climate change is brought about by the destruction of the ozone layer by mostly carbon emitted from the earth, it shall now be more logical that sustainable finance is a veritable weapon to fight climate change. In todays world, where people are paying to offset their carbon footprints, it is logical for businessmen and entrepreneurs to be denied anything with which to make a carbon dirt mark, thereby aggravating global warming.The Nigerian banking sector has a huge challenge before it. To put it comically, against the backdrop of the heavy flooding in Lagos Island where most of the banks have their headquarters, the bankers can no longer claim ignorance of the eco-emergency staring us in the face; so now is the time to protect the ecosystem and the environment. This is the time to adopt what the international community calls Clean Development Mechanism even up to the level of Micro-finance banking, in order to reach every Nigerian, including the ordinary woman in the village.This is how it works. The woman who does not use firewood to cook her food for her restaurant business is encouraged with a small loan to expand. Reason: she is helping the environment by not using cut-down trees. The young man who invents a lantern that burns up minimal or alternative fuel is given a loan to start an energy-efficient lantern manufacturing. Reason: he is conserving energy and preventing the use of fossil fuel. The lady who plants nursery and seedlings is given a loan to expand her business because she is repopulating the earth with trees which is the primary defense line against climate change. An architect who designs a house using energy-efficient constituents and facilities is given a green mortgage partnership, in order to multiply his invention.Recently in Lagos, some financial institutions came together to make a commitment to catalyse sustainable financing in Nigeria, but I am yet to see a robust grass roots-driven framework as is obtainable in other green economies. My fear is that these banks might limit their involvement to the level of monolithic corporations and the big money league, without the man in the street feeling the impact of sustainable finance which is the prelude to a green economy. Therefore, let these banks put their funds where their mouths are. Let them spell it out, so that the fresh graduates and the ordinary artisans can understand green banking and the opportunities it presents.There are a number of foreign partners available for catalysing green banking in Nigeria, like the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, the International Finance Corporation, and a host of other international donor institutions. I believe with structured collaborations, Nigerian banks will afford not to limit their eco-friendly gestures to denying loan facilities to wealthy customers who destroy the environment, but shall also extend it to the ordinary citizen with an idea on how to safeguard the environment. Through this, they will be paving way for a proactive sustainable development.Furthermore, there is a need for the Federal Government to draft a bill to provide the enabling legal framework which shall back this innovation of green banking because without a requisite legislation, sustainable financing cannot be enforced. Furthermore, this shall also enable the Central Bank of Nigeria to give directives to the banks on sustainable development and not to be hindered by any bottlenecks.But more importantly, it is the job of the banks to engage Nigerian firms, entrepreneurs and job seekers on carbon trading and carbon offset investments capacity building as a Corporate Social Responsibility drive. This shall effectively enable Nigerians to rise and recognise the global urgency in ecological matters, because it affects our health and wealth. Not only will it enable Nigeria to prepare psychologically for the onslaught of climate change, but it shall create hundreds of thousands of jobs for our teeming youth population, who are so intelligent but lack channels of engagement for their latent talents. The whole world is going green; Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind.Odogwu, publisher, National Biotech News, an environmental and science monthly, wrote in from Emab Plaza, Wuse II, Abuja, via gregodogwu@yahoo.com
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