Director-General of the National Climate Change Council, (NCCC,) Salisu Dahiru, yesterday disclosed that the Nigerian government has concluded plans to unveil a carbon tax policy and budgetary system.
Dahiru said in Abuja after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari that the move was in line with the recently approved Energy Transition Plan, as part of the Climate Change Act.
He revealed that Carbon tax or tax on greenhouse gases come in two broad forms, namely; an emissions tax, which is based on the quantity an entity produces; and a tax on goods or services that are generally greenhouse gas-intensive, such as a carbon tax on gasoline.
“Under the arrangements, the government is expected to set a price which emitters pay for each ton of greenhouse gas emissions. The tax, apart from helping to generate revenue for the government, will encourage consumers to take steps to switch fuels, adopt new technologies and reduce emissions to avoid paying the tax.”
On natural gas which Nigeria will rely on to achieve its energy transition, he stated that use of currently flared gas will close the energy or power or electricity gap that Nigeria is experiencing.
“We are going to use the energy transition plan as the main Launchpad for capturing the gas needed, if you take the population of Nigeria, which is over 200 million, and we are already experiencing shortages in terms of electricity, and utilizing this gas for even domestic use alone is something that is going to be a big positive.
“It will also help to find you know, economic utility or utilization for our abundant natural gas and also to create, you know, the stimulus for industries to also shift from diesel to start the use of natural gas as the main fuel for the generators and for the operations and therefore help to promote economic growth and also create jobs,” he said.