Nigeria has finally submitted her Internal Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change.
This comes after strong calls by climate activists and other stakeholders for the country to submit her plans ahead of the Conference of Parties starting tomorrow in Paris.
The most populous black nation in the world became the 183rd country to submit her INDC. Although the UNFCCC officially confirmed receiving the plan on its website yesterday, the country's new minister for Environment, Amina Mohammed, former Advisor to UN Secretary General on Sustainable Development, tweeted on the 26th of November, 2015 that Nigeria had just submitted her INDC. According to the UNFCCC, "Countries have agreed that there will be no back-tracking in these national climate plans, meaning that the level of ambition to reduce emissions will increase over time".

I had written this article on Nigeria's failure to submit her INDC   and sent the minister a private message on the same and I can't be happier at the result not just because we submitted, but because this submission is one with a difference.

For me and most Nigerian stakeholders in the environment sector, the new minister is one reason to be happy and her records speaks for her. She has been with the UN for a long time and was largely instrumental in the formulation of the recently launched SDGS, . It is a huge catch for us to be able to get her to serve in this new government and that is already evident in the climate plan submitted by Nigeria as it seeks to move away from a 'business-as usual approach'. According to the summary of Nigeria?s INDC, ?Under a business-as-usual growth scenario, consistent with strong economic growth of 5% per year, Nigeria?s emissions are expected to grow to around 900 million tonnes per year in 2030, which translates to around 3.4 tonnes per person. The key measures below could potentially reduce emissions by around 45 per cent compared to business as usual. Yet, Nigeria has a great potential for climate smart development, given support for implementation. Much of the reduction potential identified has zero net cost or indeed achieves a net economic benefit. That is, the measures would benefit Nigeria overall, even before taking into account the climate benefits?.

These are anchored on the following key measures work towards ending gas flaring by 2030, work towards Off-grid solar PV of 13GW (13,000MW), efficient gas generators, 2% per year energy efficiency (30% by 2030), transport shift car to mass transit, improve electricity grid, climate smart agriculture and reforestation.

I am very impressed with my country's INDC and unlike what normally obtains, there is a huge believe that the new minister for Environment, Amina Mohammed, will ensure that the efficient implementation of these ambitious plans. If we had lost much time with the delay in submitting it is duly compensated by the quality of the submission.

The 21^st Conference of Parties starts tomorrow in Paris and we all must get involved anywhere we are!