American billionaire, entrepreneur, and investor, Jeff Bezos, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari climate change agenda and his role in restoring degraded lands in the country. The billionaire who joined the President alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, Prince Charles and Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani at a COP 26 side event described the restoration as exemplary.
Bezos at a COP 26 side event entitled “Accelerating land restoration in Africa, the case of the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative” stated that ‘‘We are fortunate to have President Buhari of Nigeria with us today. Nigeria plays a critical role in the restoration movement and has pledged to restore 4 million hectares of degraded lands. This kind of ambition coming from Africa’s largest economy underscores just how vital this issue is."
The Bezos Earth Fund has a 10 billion dollar fund to allocate money to projects fighting climate change. Nigeria who is due to assume the leadership of the Conference of Heads of State and the Government of the Pan African Agency of the Great Green Wall through her President used the occasion to appeal to fellow leaders to continue to make concerted efforts at land restoration.
‘‘I am optimistic that Africa’s ambition of restoring over 100million hectares of the degraded landscape for productive agriculture is achievable,’’ he said.
President Buhari also pledged Nigeria’s unalloyed commitment to expanding the achievements of the GGW programme in Africa from the enviable status attained under the leadership of President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani of Mauritania.
‘‘Together we commit to the transformative process of restoring the African degraded landscape and ultimately the continent’s environment,’’ he said.
