By Cherry Oko
The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to deepen actions on climate-smart agriculture, mangrove and coastal resilience in the Niger Delta, as well as drought mitigation in Northern Nigeria.
This was disclosed by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Environment, Adamu Kambari, at a meeting with the California-Africa Climate and Economic Delegation in Abuja.
Nigeria according to him is advancing its policies on business-to-business exchange in climate innovation, clean transport, energy, digital technology, creative economy, and university partnerships.
“Our direction of travel is clear: to deliver growth and jobs while cutting emissions and building resilience. The Energy Transition Plan (ETP) sets a pathway to net-zero emissions by 2060, prioritising power, cooking and transport sectors that can create hundreds of thousands of jobs by 2030 and beyond,” he noted.
He explained further that, while gas would play a defined transition role, the government is accelerating renewables and electrification. He noted that progress was ongoing in implementing Article 6 cooperation and national registries, with training and partner support underway.
“Our statutory backbone is the Climate Change Act 2021, which mainstreams climate action across government, establishes the National Council on Climate Change chaired at the highest level, and mandates carbon budgeting and a national climate plan. The Act also provides the legal framework for carbon pricing and marketing,” he stated.
The Permanent Secretary said the country is committed to cutting emissions 20 per cent below Business-As-Usual (BAU) levels by 2030 unconditionally, and 45–47 per cent with international support as regards Nigeria’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC),
Speaking on transport, Kambari highlighted that the Presidential CNG initiative is scaling up cheaper, cleaner fuel alternatives for vehicles and fleets following petrol subsidy reforms. He added that emerging electric vehicle (EV) pilots are underway, while state oil firms and private partners are expanding CNG supply infrastructure to lower costs and emissions.
“We will deploy California’s technology, fleet, finance and safety expertise to accelerate standards, conversions, and assembly partnerships in Nigeria. We are also pursuing grid and market reforms to enable distributed generation and renewable energy integration at the federal and state levels,” he stated.
Kambari further stated that that the Federal Government has adopted a National Clean Cooking Policy to vastly expand access to clean and efficient cooking by 2030.
He said Nigeria has also developed a National Adaptation Plan framework to reduce vulnerability and integrate resilience into water, agriculture, coastal, and urban systems. “A draft MoU is capturing technical cooperation, data exchange, and investment aligned with our ETP, NDC and Climate Change Act,” he added.
