Climate Politics
Nigeria Pitches Debt Forgiveness for Climate-Change Funding Plan
- Proposal would help free up government budgets, Osinbajo says
- Growing number of developing nations facing debt distress
Taxi vans in heavy traffic on Nnamdi Azikwe Street by Idumota market in Lagos.
Photographer: Adetona Omokanye/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Creditors should consider forgiving poor countries’ debts in return for a commitment to using outstanding payments on programs to mitigate climate change, Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said.
In addition to freeing up government budgets, such a plan would enable creditors and debtor nations to allocate the spending to their so-called National Determined Contributions, Osinbajo said in a speech at the Center for Global Development in Washington DC on Thursday. The NDCs, agreed in Paris in 2015, represent commitments by countries to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and adapt to climate change.