Climate Change: Nigeria Advises Africa On Actionable Policies, Partnership

Nigeria has called on African governments and their environmental experts to deepen dialogue and strengthen partnerships to translate scientific research into actionable policies.

It said the measures will transform the continent and safeguard a shared future.

The minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, who gave the admonition in his opening remarks yesterday at the First West African Science and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) International Conference on Climate Change and Just Energy Transition in Abuja, said Africa needs evidence-based strategies that will drive sustainable development and enhance resilience across its communities.

He urged the participants to seize the opportunity and harness the wealth of knowledge, research and innovation represented to generate practical solutions that will assist the region in building a foundation for a resilient, low-carbon future that speaks to its realities.

Lawal said the conference theme, “Sustainable Climate Resilience and Just Energy Transition in Africa,” captured the pressing challenges and emerging opportunities that the continent must confront at this critical moment.

He reiterated that Africa’s determination to respond to climate change is unwavering and guided by a collective will to safeguard its economies and ecosystems while pursuing sustainable growth that leaves no community behind.

The minister explained that Nigeria’s commitment to a just transition is precise, deliberate and rooted in its belief that no one should be left behind in the journey toward a low-carbon and climate-resilient future.

While commending the National Organising Committee and partners who he said worked tirelessly to bring this vision to life, Lawal note that: “Through a developed Energy Transition Plan, Nigeria aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060 while ensuring universal access to modern energy by 2030. The Nigeria’s Climate Change Act provides the legal foundation for these ambitions, while the pioneering Green Bond Programme demonstrates how innovative finance can drive sustainable development”.

Earlier in a visual broadcast, a major sponsor of the event, the German Ministry of Research, Space and Technology, through its minister, Dorothee Bar, said the conference accommodated participants from different fields across 20 countries to discuss open questions and solutions to climate change and sustainable energy systems.