Business mogul and senator, Jimoh Ibrahim, has said there is a need for African countries to sign climate change liability agreement with developed countries that are responsible for carbon emissions on the continent.
He said it was wrong for countries causing carbon emissions to engage in climate change conversations but avoid issues that bother on signing liability agreement.
Ibrahim, who spoke on Tuesday at the ongoing World Bank/International Monetary Fund Meetings in Morocco, insisted that developing countries must compensate Africa for carbon emissions on the continent.
He said this could help Africa to offset its huge foreign debt
He said, “Africa is hugely in debt, using $50bn every year to service debts without paying the debtor. This is worrisome to the entire world. What I told the IMF and World Bank is that there is a climate change issue impacting the continent. The carbon dioxide is polluted by the plethora of cars manufactured in America and burning of fossils. This is really affecting Africans and their health. The consequences should be paid by the pollutant and they should pay for the damages that erupt in the African continent, because disaster does not require visa to travel. Who is going to pay for the burning of fossils and pollution of carbon dioxide in Africa. If you quantify the amount of damage done to Africa, you can exchange it for Africa’s debts.”
The issue of Africa’s huge debt has topped discussions at the ongoing World Bank/IMF Annual meetings.
Nigerian leaders in the current administration have said they have no plan to raise borrowing.
However, Ibrahim said the IMF was looking at the issue of paying for carbon emission on the continent.
He said. “The IMF is looking at this seriously and they asked me a question: How do we quantify the damages? But I told them, we have data. We don’t produce cars in Africa, but the whole world uses cars. These cars are produced in Germany, America, Russia, China and India. Imagine the number of cars in the world and burning fossil oil is consequences of all the disasters we see leads to manipulation of carbon dioxide is what we breathe in as oxygen.”
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