Nigeria has unveiled an formidable plan to mobilize as much as $3 billion yearly in local weather finance by way of its Nationwide Carbon Market Framework and Local weather Change Fund, positioning itself as a frontrunner in nature-positive funding throughout the World South.
Vice President Senator Kashim Shettima made the announcement throughout a high-level thematic session titled “Local weather and Nature: Forests and Oceans” on the ongoing United Nations Local weather Change Convention (COP30) in Belem, Brazil.
Representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Shettima emphasised that Nigeria’s local weather technique is rooted in restoring steadiness between nature, growth, and financial resilience.
“By way of our Nationwide Carbon Market Framework and Local weather Change Fund, we goal to mobilise as much as three billion US {dollars} yearly in local weather finance,” Shettima declared. “These sources shall be reinvested in community-led reforestation, blue carbon tasks, and sustainable agriculture.”
A name for international solidarity and scaled-up financing
Shettima urged the worldwide neighborhood to considerably enhance grant-based finance and implement progressive mechanisms equivalent to debt-for-nature swaps and Blue Carbon Markets beneath Article 6 of the Paris Settlement. He careworn that nature, forests, oceans, and landscapes are shared international property that should be protected by way of predictable, equitable, and accessible funding.
“We name on our international companions to recognise the financial worth of nature and to channel vital finance in the direction of defending and restoring it,” he mentioned.
He additionally highlighted the injustice confronted by World South nations, which have contributed least to local weather change however bear its highest prices. “International locations which have benefited extra from centuries of extraction should now lead in restoration,” Shettima asserted.
Nigeria’s home local weather motion: From laws to implementation
Nigeria’s Local weather Change Act of 2021 enshrines nature-based options as a authorized obligation of the state. Shettima outlined a number of initiatives already underway:
- Nice Inexperienced Wall Initiative: Reforesting degraded lands throughout 11 frontline states, planting over 10 million bushes, and creating hundreds of inexperienced jobs.
- Forest Panorama Restoration Plan: Concentrating on the restoration of over 2 million hectares of degraded land by 2030.
- Marine and Blue Financial system Coverage: Selling climate-smart fisheries, coastal safety, and marine biodiversity conservation.
He emphasised that Nigeria is “taking daring, coordinated steps to revive steadiness between local weather, nature, and growth,” supported by the institutional spine of the Nationwide Council on Local weather Change.
Africa as an answer, not a sufferer
Rejecting the portrayal of Africa as a passive sufferer of local weather change, Shettima argued that the continent is house to among the world’s largest untapped carbon sinks and a youthful inhabitants able to driving innovation.
“Africa’s rainforests, mangroves, peatlands, and oceans are international property. Our younger individuals are the world’s best untapped supply of innovation and resolve,” he mentioned.
Shettima referred to as on international companions to affix Nigeria and the African Union in advancing the African Nature Finance Framework, designed to unlock personal capital for reforestation, ecosystem restoration, and blue economic system growth throughout the continent.
“Nigeria believes that COP30 should mark the start of a brand new compact — one which recognises Africa’s ecosystems as international property deserving of worldwide funding and safety,” he concluded.
What it is best to know
President Bola Tinubu had introduced in April that Nigeria’s newly finalised Carbon Market Activation Coverage was poised to unlock as much as $2.5 billion in high-integrity carbon credit and related investments by the yr 2030, positioning the nation as a hub for climate-smart finance on the African continent.
- This coverage is backed by Nigeria’s dedication to updating its Nationally Decided Contributions (NDCs), with a complete revision due by September 2025, aligned with the UN Framework Conference on Local weather Change (UNFCCC).
- Past the regulatory atmosphere, Tinubu disclosed plans to launch a World Local weather Change Funding Fund, a mechanism to mix private and non-private capital, de-risk inexperienced infrastructure, and finance scalable clear power options.