The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) has raised an alarm that Nigeria is at the risk of not achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals SDGs by 2030.
Dr. Rabiu Olowo, Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Council raised this alarm yesterday at the Lagos State Sustainability Summit while speaking on the topic ‘Building a Sustainable Future: Aligning Financial Strategies with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, to foster Long-term Sustainability’, in Lagos.
It would be recalled that in 2015, United Nations member states signed on to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.
For instance, in the 2019 SDG index, Nigeria ranked 159th among 162 countries compared in terms of their achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Nigeria’s performance score of 46.4 is just a little above the score for the Central African Republic, a country sitting at the lowest rung of the index.
Speaking categorically on the situation, Olowo posited that the journey to actualizing the 17 SDG is still very far based on available data.
Hear him: “Can SDGs be achieved in Nigeria before 2030? According to data, not likely. Data tells me that the journey to actualizing the 17 SDGs is still very far. Indices in each of the SDGs clearly point to that.”
He noted that the world faces unprecedented challenges such as climate change, social inequality, and economic uncertainty all of which the SDGs 2030 has provided a framework for addressing and building a more sustainable future.
To achieve the SDGs, he explained, “there is the need to align our financial strategies with sustainable development principles”, adding that there were five thematic levers to achieving such.
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Giving details of the principles, Olowo stated: “There are five thematic levers for aligning financial strategies with the SDGs including: Better prioritization of resource allocation (Budgeting): The key to aligning financial strategies with the SDGs begins with the state budgeting. The state budget must prioritize projects and investments that contribute significantly and directly to sustainable development.
“Focus on service delivery and outcomes: Generally governments are better at preparing budgets than executing them. It is important that budget performance should be based on impact and not just numbers.
“Sustainable financing: Only 3 percent of global climate finance find its way to Africa and even much less so for Nigeria. This isn’t just a question of volume, the pressing issue is for Nigeria to create the enabling conditions to unlock these investments through sustainable practices.
“Another smart way to access finance is through sustainable bonds (green bonds, blue bonds etc) that appeal to a rising group of elite and discerning investors.”
In his goodwill message, the Minister of State for Environment, Mr. Iziaq Salako, noted that Lagos State and the country cannot thrive without economic development and economic development cannot happen without profound modifications in our environment.
He added: “In order to achieve sustainable development, we must decouple environmental pressure from economic growth and development.
“We must provide a mechanism for achieving maximum developmental gains with minimum environmental haste, and synchronize our development agenda in harmony with nature.”
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos State on SDG, Oreoluwa Finnih, noted that the theme of the Summit was deliberate, and mirrors ambition of Lagos sustainability vision.
She added: “In fact, it is building around the fundamental principles of social responsibility, equitable development and the creation of an enabling environment for sustainable growth and development.
By: Babajide Okeowo
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