President Buhari arrives Marrakech for COP-22

President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived Marrakech, Morocco, to participate in the ongoing 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), tagged, COP-22.

This information is contained in the President’s twitter handle.

President Buhari, who left the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Monday, arrived the Marrakesh Menara Airport in Morocco, some hours later.

While in Marrakech, the president would participate in the official opening of the plenary of the conference on November 15 where he would deliver his national statement during the High Level Segment of COP 22.

A statement earlier issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said President Buhari would be presenting a presidential address at the conference.

The address, according to the statement, is expected to highlight, among other key issues, Nigeria’s unwavering commitment to implementing the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and policy actions aimed at tackling climate change through environmental sustainable efforts.

It said that the president would also use the occasion of his speech to rally international support for the clean-up of Ogoniland in the Niger Delta and the resuscitation of the Lake Chad Basin.

The statement said President Buhari would also attend the Africa Day Commemoration at COP 22 with the theme, “Moving from Commitments to Action with Intended Nationally Determined Contributions and African Renewable Energy Initiative.”

The president, according to the statement, will also attend the Summit of African Heads of State on the sidelines of the climate change conference.

COP 22, will be attended by representatives from 197 countries including world leaders, environment ministers, government officials as well as a wide range of representatives from civil society and the private sector.

The conference is the first meeting of State Parties since the entry into force of the landmark Paris Agreement on November 4, 2015.

The legally binding international agreement on climate change, among others, addresses issues of global warming, including its impact on food security and agriculture.

It would be recalled that President Buhari signed the Paris Agreement on September 22, 2016 at the margins of the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.