By Nkechi Eze
As the world is transiting towards achieving NetZero in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), has entered into discussions with American-based Global Green Development Group, and NOAH ReGen to collaborate on the Jatropha-To-Biofuel program. Global Green Development Group and NOAH ReGen plan to implement the program in ten states in Nigeria
At a meeting held at NiMet Headquarters on Thursday, 20th March 2025, the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, Professor Charles Anosike, welcomed the partnership proposal saying that it was in line with the mandate of the agency to observe and monitor the atmospheric condition in Nigeria, analyze the data, generate and disseminate forecasts which contribute to socio-economic development.
“NiMet has a wide ecosystem of climate change actors and partners. Also, we do a lot of work with over 70 million subsistence farmers in Nigeria. We have begun the dissemination of our seasonal climate prediction (SCP) to these farmers and other end users.
We can partner by sharing our climate and weather data to support your Jatropha-To-Biofuel program”.
Continuing, Prof. Anosike said that the partnership will also enable the parties to consistently respond to climate disasters.
The Chief Executive Officer of Global Green Development Group, Mary Flowers said that for the project to succeed in Nigeria, they require NiMet’s data. “We need to join forces as data will drive everything. We need your science and climate data which have existed for over 100 years. NiMet is the most important agency in what we are planning to do. With your data we can go to the market much quicker”, she said.
Speaking, Frederic Degret, the Chief Executive Officer of NOAH ReGen said that the Jatropha-To-Biofuel program meets the expectations of the Re’Planet Ecosystem launched by and in partnership with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). “The Re’Planet Ecosystem is a game changer toolkit and global blended financial platform dedicated to nature-based assets and carbon credits (NBACCs) which enables nations to structure debt for nature swap and to unlock, value and monetize their highest potential of NBACCs including blue carbon”.
