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The Federal Government of Nigeria has released a report as part of its efforts to identify the specific support needs of the federation’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to combat climate change.

Titled “Mapping Climate Change Impact, Policy, and Action in Nigeria’s 36 States and Federal Capital Territory (FCT),” the report is aimed at how to effectively domesticate policies concerning climate change to attract funds and investments to increase action at the subnational level and ease climate-related transitions for sustainable development.

Nigeria has a tropical climate, with heavy precipitation in the southwest and southeast and low precipitation in the north. According to Dr. Ishaq Salako, state minister of environment, this type of weather pattern can induce erosion and flooding in the south and aridity, drought, and desertification in the north.

The minister, who made the comment on Friday, November 17, 2023, in Abuja, during the official launch of the report, went on to clarify that these differences in weather conditions expose northern states to greater climatic vulnerability than those in the country’s southern region. Additionally, the prevalence of climate-sensitive agricultural practices also aligns with this pattern of vulnerability to climate change.

Thus, he explained, this study would help in assessing the awareness of climate change in every state in the nation, including the Federal Capital Territory, and explore the willingness of states to participate and improve their understanding and response to prevent climate catastrophe. It would also help the government develop particular policies and action plans to protect each state based on its climate risk.

“With this, funding support and resources can be effectively allocated and directed to areas that are most vulnerable and require urgent action,” Dr. Salako said.

Professor Chukwumerije Okereke, the convener and President of the Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP), described climate change as one of the most significant development concerns confronting Nigeria today.

According to him, climatic impacts, such as flooding, desertification, drought, erosion, and sea level rise, are destroying ecosystems and livelihoods, thereby pushing many into poverty.

The Nigerian government signed the National Climate Change Law, which creates the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), and pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2060. In addition, to address the effects of climate change, it has a National Climate Change Policy, a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), and a few flagship projects like the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscape (ACReSAL), and the Great Green Wall (GGW).

Prof. Okereke did, however, point out that the majority of federal climate change activities and actions have paid little to no attention to state-level climate change policies, action plans, and investment. This, he says, is a considerable imbalance, given that the states that host the local populations face the majority of the burden of climate change impacts.

“Therefore, the implementation of policies and actions at the subnational level is crucial to addressing climate change and meeting Nigeria’s net-zero target and other national climate commitments,” he said.

The present circumstances, the convener argued, necessitate a better understanding of the subnational climate change governance environment, including the degree of climate change awareness, the scope and diversity of policies, and their degree of implementation.

In a similar spirit, Sam Onuigbo, Member of the Governing Board and Chairman of the North-East Development Commission’s (NEDC) Committee on Security, Climate Change, and Special Interventions, decried the nation’s vulnerability to the disastrous impacts of climate change.

As a result, he advised governors and local council chairmen to make adequate climate change budget provisions based on the new assessment.

“With the responsibilities assigned to the representatives of the subnational, governors, and local government chairmen by the Act, they should begin to make adequate budgetary provisions for improved climate change action and resilience,” he stated.

This is the first and most comprehensive mapping of Nigeria’s subnational climate action. It will increase public awareness of climate action, provide information on the state of climate change policies, draw attention to the shortcomings and efforts in subnational programmes and actions related to climate change, and promote better action from the public sector, private industry, civil society, or foreign donor organisations.

Download Report Here>>

By Nsikak Emmanuel Ekere, Abuja

First published in environsnewsnigeria.com

Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke has been elected Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (UNESCO-TWAS) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to science and its promotion in the developing world.

The Nigeria born Okereke is a Professor in Global Governance and Public Policy in the School for Policy Studies, Bristol University, UK, and Director for the Centre for Climate Change and Development, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Nigeria.

He is a globally recognised leading scholar on global climate governance and international development with specialism on the justice dimensions of the international climate regime and just societal transitions to the green economy.

Okereke has a strong track record of cutting-edge and high-impact research focused on understanding and addressing systemic barriers to economic and social inclusion in the context of climate policy and green economy transitions,

He has made significant contributions to scholarship on several areas such as: (i) understanding how different conceptions of justice influence global climate governance and the implications for climate-resilient sustainable development in developing countries; (ii) advancing the theory of theory of climate governance through his various works that focus on the activities of non-nation state actors in climate governance; and (iii) advancing knowledge and practice of climate governance and green growth transitions in Africa where his work has had a far-reaching impact on public policy and practice across the continent.

He also worked with a diverse array of stakeholders to mobilise research to shape climate governance in Africa including drafting a climate change law in Nigeria, modelling Nigeria’s long-term low-carbon development strategy, designing African Unions’ Adaptation Initiative, and drafting the first ever national green growth plan in Africa, for the Government of Rwanda.

Professor Okereke’s academic merit and international research leadership status is affirmed through his leadership roles in multiple high-profile global Scientist Assessment Projects and networks including as Coordinating Lead Author, of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group III Sixth Assessment Report.

He is a visiting professor at London School of Economics and Senior Academic Visitor at the University of Oxford.

He is also a leading member of the Global Earth Commission’s Safe and Just Transformation Working Group and Coordinator of African Forum Climate Change, Energy and Development (AFCEED) the leading African Network of scholars, policy makers and practitioners working on climate change and sustainability transitions in Africa.

Commenting on the award, Okereke said: “I am delighted to have been elected Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (UNESCO-TWAS).

“It means a lot to me because I have always been driven by a desire to highlight the challenges faced by developing countries in addressing climate change while also pursuing economic growth as well as the opportunities to leverage climate action to build resilience and achieve economic growth.

“Developing countries face multiple challenges related to colonial legacy and unjust international economic order which work to the advantage of advanced countries. I believe that approaching climate governance from the framework of justice enables us to tackle, not just the issue of climate pollution, but also the more fundamental question of global equity and fairness needed to ensure that everyone can lead a decent life regardless of where they are born.

“I grew up in a very rural village in Old Eastern Nigeria. I played naked under the rain, swam and drank water from the brownish local river, went to school for the most time barefooted, studied under the big akparata tree in the local school, hunted rats and rabbits with my age-mates and sang with other children under the moonlight.

“I experienced the joy of growing up in the natural environment and am passionate to see that economic development for all the good things it brings does not impose existential risk on our environment and the lives of people on the planet.

“This recognition encourages me to continue to work as there is still quite a long way to go to achieve climate justice for the vulnerable countries of the world.”

Okereke is among 47 Fellows elected by the Academy.

The fourth meeting of the Transition Committee for the operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund ended in Aswan, Egypt with no clear resolutions on key issues especially where the Loss and Damage Fund( agreed to in COP27, at Sharm el-Sheikh) would be domiciled.

From 17-20 October, 2023, developed countries led by the United States of America held their ground, insisting that they must have total control over this fund, which they say is being established for developing countries.

Many experts including Harjeet Singh, the Head of Global and Political Strategy of the Climate Action Network (CAN) saw this resolution as a complete disappointment.

This insistence by the U.S and her allies is nothing short of an attempt to exert control over developing countries.

By trying so hard to force developing countries to accept that the Loss and Damage Fund must be domiciled within the World Bank— an institution long seen by developing countries as serving the interests of developed countries— developed countries led by the United States and Switzerland have once again showed that for them, climate action is not about justice and corrections of the mistakes of the past, but more about them exercising powers over anything and everything in the world.

Historically, emissions by developed countries created the climate crisis. Furthermore, those emissions were used by developed countries to boost their technological progress giving them an advantage when it comes to control and access to finance and technologies needed to cut down emissions.

Having exploited the common resources of the entire world to get to this point, it is only fair that they should support poor countries who are bearing the impact of the climate crisis to grow in a more sustainable way.

Nonetheless, these countries have continuously refused to make the basic compromises required to build trust in the international process and encourage developing countries to pursue low-carbon development.

First, they failed to meet the $100bn annual support agreed to in 2009 to assist developing countries by 2020, next they tried to pass of high interest loans as part of the effort to meet the $100 billion pledge.

And Now, this bull-headed decision to have control of the Loss and Damage Fund with the usual conditions to make sure that access becomes extremely difficult for those who need adds salt into the wounds of developing countries.

Let us be clear, the funding expected from rich countries either as part of the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, or the Loss and Damage Fund, should not be viewed as charity.

Instead, they are essentially tokens from massive profits made by developing countries from destroying the earth. It is as simple as that. While the language of compensation is not explicitly used in the UNFCCC texts, that is essentially what it is, and the fact that poor countries agreed to expunge compensation language from the text is already enough demonstration of compromise and good will by the Global South.

Confronted with the stark reality of climate change, and constantly reminded by developed countries that they must take action to address climate change, developing countries have since committed to follow the low-carbon development path hoping that those who destroyed the earth would at least live up to their own words and provide the agreed financial support necessary to encourage mitigation and adaptation efforts, and also support for Loss and Damage.

Yet, all poor countries continue to get is warm words and empty promises.

It is instructive that as soon as the Ukraine-Russian war hit, and energy became a problem in Europe, developing countries that had been told by rich countries to divest from fossil fuel and make net zero transition plans watched as Europe made a dash for gas in Africa and had coal-powered energy industries were reactivated in Germany!

The Loss and Damage Fund therefore presented a clear opportunity for developed countries to, for once, build trust and defer to what works for those whom the fund is being set up for.

But as usual, they have re-emphasized that for them, it is only about what benefits them, and not what is best for the long-term good of the world.

Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke is a Professor of Global Governance and Public Policy at the University of Bristol.

Nnaemeka Oruh is Senior Policy Analysts with the Society for Planet and Prosperity, Nigeria.