Climate governance in Nigeria

The CAT Climate Governance series seeks to produce a practical framework for assessing a government’s readiness - both from an institutional and governance point of view - to ratchet up climate policy and implement adequate transformational policies on the ground, to enable the required economy-wide transformation towards a zero emissions society. Transiting to a zero emissions society has not been a top priority for Nigeria; however, recent actions by the Buhari administration and the National Assembly indicate that decarbonisation may be moving up on the domestic agenda. In late 2021, Nigeria adopted a net zero target and President Buhari signed the long-awaited Climate Change Bill into law. There is some support from key figures for mitigation actions, like the Vice President’s support of the renewable energy target. Time will tell whether these developments mark a real shift.