UNEP tasks Nigeria on sustainable principles to void brown ecosystem

The United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP), has urged the Nigerian financial regulatory agencies to enforce sustainable financial principles in their activities, to ensure that the country aligns with the global effort at enthroning a more prosperous world, devoid of poverty and brown ecosystem.

Sustainable finance principles is one of the emerging practices that stipulates in the pursuit of profit, there is need to consider pressing environmental and social issues, such as poverty, youth unemployment, gender inequality, climate change, deforestation, and food insecurity.

The Deputy Head, UNEP, Ms Yuki Yusu, at a capacity building workshop for financial regulatory bodies in Nigeria, under the aegis of Financial Sector Regulatory Coordinating Committee (FSRCC), said the call had become necessary given the vital roles the regulators play in stabilising the economy.

The FSRCC membership comprises operators drawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, Securities and Exchange Commission, National Insurance Commission, National Pension Commission and the Nigeria Stock Exchange.

Yusu stressed that the role these regulators play in the financial sector can go a long way in accelerating a sustainable ecosystem and a better environment for the next generation.

According to her, “there is a huge funding gap. A lot of study by the United Nations and other agencies show we need trillions of dollars per year in investing in a green ecosystem and save the economy.

“We have a lot of people that should be out of poverty and the funding gap means that the financial sector needs to be involved to participate and channeled the money from brown economy to green economy and the regulators will play a big role.”

The UNEP charge came on a day the Nasarawa State Government endorsed a green energy programme, introduced to check climate change and its pangs on the environment.