Vice-President Kashim Shettima has tasked global leaders on taking “reasonable action” and moving from pledges to performance in tackling climate change.

Mr Shettima made the call at the opening of the Heads of State Summit at the 30th UN Climate Change Conference on Thursday in Belém, Brazil. He also implored world leaders to be more proactive in curtailing climate change, attendant natural disasters that have claimed innocent lives and rendered many homeless across the globe.

”Let COP30 be remembered as the moment when the world moved from pledges to performance, from ambition to action, and from dialogue to delivery,” he said.

The vice-president, who is representing President Bola  Tinubu at the global event, reaffirmed Nigeria’s global climate leadership with a commitment to achieving an emission reduction target of 32 per cent by 2035. He explained that the new initiatives form the core of Nigeria’s climate finance architecture, designed to attract billions of dollars in clean energy and adaptation investments.

Mr Shettima said Nigeria’s renewed climate agenda represents “not just an aspiration, but a solemn national commitment to preserve the planet for future generations”.

“The earth speaks in the language of loss and warning. It tells us that our survival is tied to its well-being. These are the cries that have compelled us to gather, from one city to another, in pursuit of one shared purpose — to save the only home we have,” Mr Shettima.

He stressed that climate ambition could be sustained by goodwill alone, saying, “No nation can finance climate ambition with goodwill alone. We need a reliable and equitable architecture that recognises the realities of developing nations and empowers them to deliver on global commitments.

“I hereby say without absolute certainty that we are not the problem; we are an integral part of the solution. This is why, at COP30, we hope to demonstrate that Africa can lead in carbon capture through forests, in renewable energy expansion, in digital monitoring of emissions, and in regional cooperation that translates ambition into prosperity.”

Mr Shettima maintained that Nigeria is ready “to work with all nations to build a fairer, greener, and more resilient world, one where our children inherit not the ruins of our indifference, but the fruits of our collective resolve.”

He stated that the National Carbon Market Framework would enable Nigeria to generate, trade, and retire carbon credits in alignment with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, ensuring transparency and integrity in carbon transactions.

The proceeds, he noted, will flow into the newly established Climate Change Fund to support communities most affected by floods, droughts, and desertification.

Mr Shettima further revealed that the Nigerian government has launched a five-year Carbon Market Roadmap, which will lay the groundwork for an Emissions Trading System and a Carbon Tax Regime.

The vice-president added that it will be reinforced by fiscal incentives to promote clean industrial innovation. Mr Shettima said the decade of gas strategy remains pivotal in powering the transition, balancing natural gas utilisation with expanded solar and off-grid electrification to drive rural energy access and sustainable development.

The UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said it was unfortunate that countries of the world have failed to remain below 1.5 degrees. He charged world leaders to embrace a paradigm shift to limit the overshoot magnitude and quickly drive it down in order to salvage what he described as a highly risky situation.

Mr Guterres said, “I cannot agree more, and the real truth is that we have failed to remain below 1.5 degrees, and science now tells us that the temporary overshoot between the 1.5 limit, starting at the latest in the early 2030s, is inevitable.

“We therefore need a paradigm shift to limit these overshoots’ magnitude and duration and quickly drive them down. Given the temporary average overshoots and their thematic consequences, it could push ecosystems and expose billions of people to unlivable conditions and amplify threats to peace and security.

“Every fraction of a degree means more hunger, displacement and loss especially for those least responsible. This is more of a failure and deadly negligence. The world meteorological service has indicated that emissions will begin to increase this year and the 1.5 degrees is a red line for humanity.”

He urged world leaders to act with speed and scale in order to minimise the overshoot and make it as safe as possible, thereby bringing temperatures back to below 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated that combating climate change would require a collective effort, noting that it must be a priority for every government and individual on the planet.

(NAN)