AROUND the world, we are already seeing the damaging effects of climate change, from increasing temperatures and melting glaciers to rising sea levels and lengthening droughts.  The toll on our planet will only get worse, if the international community does not strengthen its resolve and efforts to address this problem.  The United Nations Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico, offers an opportunity to take an important step forward — and we must seize this moment together.

The United States of America is committed to working with the Federal Republic of Nigeria and our other international partners to meet this great global challenge.

At Cancun, we must work to build upon the progress made last year in Copenhagen and move forward on all key elements of the negotiations — mitigation of emissions, transparency of actions, financing, adaptation, technology, and protection of our forests.  As we press ahead on these issues and seek a balanced outcome, we must also avoid undermining what we achieved in Copenhagen, where leaders from around the world took a meaningful and unprecedented step in our collective commitment to meeting the climate change challenge.  Attempts to back away from commitments in the Copenhagen Accord or to renegotiate its underpinning would only deepen the danger for our planet, our people, and our future.

The Copenhagen Accord enjoys the support of about 140 countries, including the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  For the first time, all major economies have committed to take actions to limit their emissions and to do so in an internationally transparent manner.  The Agreement also includes landmark provisions for financial assistance to support clean technology development, adaptation, and forest protection in those countries most in need.  These provisions consist of a pledge for “fast start” funding by developed countries approaching $30 billion over the years 2010 to 2012 and a commitment to a goal of mobilizing $100 billion annually from public and private sources by 2020 in the context of meaningful mitigation and transparency.

The United States of America is delivering on our “fast start” commitment to help developing countries reduce emissions and adapt to the adverse effects of climate change.  This year alone, the United States has significantly increased its climate finance to a total of $1.7 billion, including $1.3 billion of Congressionally-appropriated assistance and $400 million of development finance and export credit.

Evidence of this progress can be seen in Nigeria.  For example, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is investing $1.5 million to support the Nigerian Energy and Climate Change (NECC) project for clean energy, energy conservation, and energy efficiency work.  The project will include such activities as reducing gas flaring and expanding the use of natural gas to produce electricity; building the capacity of the private sector to participate in the production of clean energy; building the capacity of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to set tariffs that encourage efficient energy use; supporting new entrants in power generation and local renewable generation and transmission capacities; and improving institutional, legal, and regulatory frameworks that promote efficient operations among generation, distribution, and transmission companies.  The NECC also promotes rural electrification and the use of efficient wood stoves in Southeastern and Northern Nigeria to reduce deforestation and the resulting desertification.

In another example, the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is providing a $32 million direct loan for the development, construction, and operation of energy-efficient power plants in Nigeria to provide electricity, thermal energy, and food-grade carbon dioxide to various U.S.-owned beverage bottling plants.  These plants represent part of a larger, multi-country, $250 million loan facility to ContourGlobal and involve the largest multinational energy efficiency program by a single alcohol-free beverage producer to date.  OPIC is also providing political risk insurance for a $37.8 million equity investment into the development, construction, operation, and maintenance of 4.0-megawatt (MW), 3.6-MW, and 1.2-MW combined heat and power generation (“cogeneration”) inside-the-fence plants for beverage bottling facilities in Ikeja, Apapa, and Benin, Nigeria, respectively.  The investment will improve the energy efficiency of the bottling plants and will create full-time professional and technical local jobs.

The United States of America is also working hard to reduce its own emissions and transition to a clean energy economy.  President Obama’s Recovery Act provided more than $80 billion in investments, loans, and incentives to support a range of initiatives vital to this goal. We have put into place the most ambitious U.S. fuel-economy and tailpipe-emission standards ever.  We are taking important steps to reduce emissions from our largest polluting sources.  And President Obama remains committed to passing domestic energy and climate legislation.

I am aware of broad concerns by Nigerians about the current impact and potential threats posed by the changing climate — concerns that Americans share.  But I am encouraged by actions taken here and around the world to work toward a clean energy future that promotes sustainable economic growth for all.  Just as no nation can escape the effects of climate change, no nation alone can solve this problem.  I applaud recent Nigerian initiatives, such as the National Carbon Credit Train, the establishment of an International Green Hall of Fame and International Centre for Climate Change, and the creation of the National Climate Change Commission.

The risks posed by climate change and the difficulty of containing such risks pose challenges to every country, and we must overcome those obstacles.  Our global efforts to build a sustainable, clean-energy economy will lift people out of poverty, deliver energy services throughout the world, and preserve our most precious environmental treasures.  The Copenhagen Accord and the Climate Change Conference in Cancun represent important steps in our collective commitment to speed this transition – resulting in a cleaner, healthier planet for all.

McCulley is the United States Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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