Nigeria’s Commitment to Climate and Nature Restoration
Nigeria is taking significant steps to restore the balance between climate, nature, and development through a comprehensive approach that involves substantial financial commitments. The country has called on the international community to increase global financing to protect and restore nature’s economic value. This initiative emphasizes the need for predictable, equitable, and accessible funding mechanisms.
According to Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima, forests, landscapes, and oceans are shared resources that require global solidarity for their protection. During a high-level thematic session titled “Climate and Nature: Forests and Oceans” at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 30) in Belem, Brazil, Mr. Shettima represented President Bola Tinubu. He highlighted the importance of treating nature as an asset rather than a commodity to exploit.
Mr. Shettima expressed concern that while nature is the most critical infrastructure, it has long been overlooked. Nigeria is driven by this knowledge to integrate nature-positive investments into its climate finance architecture. Through initiatives like the National Carbon Market Framework and Climate Change Fund, the country aims to mobilize up to three billion US dollars annually in climate finance. These resources will be reinvested in community-led reforestation, blue carbon projects, and sustainable agriculture.
The VP urged global partners to recognize the economic value of nature and channel significant finance towards protecting and restoring it. He emphasized that countries in the Global South, which have contributed least to the climate crisis, are paying the highest price. For climate justice to be served, nations that have benefited from centuries of extraction must now lead in restoration.
Mr. Shettima called on the global community to increase grant-based finance, operationalize Blue Carbon Markets, and implement debt-for-nature swaps to enable developing countries to invest in conservation. He also stressed the importance of strengthening community-led governance so that indigenous peoples, farmers, and fisherfolk are rewarded for their stewardship rather than displaced by it.
Challenges and Actions Taken
Nigeria faces several environmental challenges, including deforestation, desertification, illegal mining, coastal erosion, and rising sea levels. The Sahara advances by nearly one kilometre each year, displacing communities and eroding livelihoods. Each piece of land lost invites conflict into human lives, compounding development challenges.
The Nigerian Vice President stated that while Nigeria’s Climate Change Act 2021 enshrines nature-based solutions as a legal obligation, the nation is taking bold, coordinated steps to restore balance between climate, nature, and development. The National Council on Climate Change provides the institutional backbone for integrating climate action into all sectors of governance.
Nigeria is implementing the Great Green Wall Initiative, reforesting degraded lands across eleven frontline states, planting over ten million trees, and creating thousands of green jobs for youth and women. Through the National Afforestation Programme and Forest Landscape Restoration Plan, the country aims to restore more than two million hectares of degraded land by 2030.
Additionally, Nigeria has launched its Marine and Blue Economy Policy to harness the vast potential of its seas sustainably. This includes promoting climate-smart fisheries, coastal protection, and marine biodiversity conservation.
A New Compact for Africa
Mr. Shettima reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to working with global partners to advance a global agenda where climate action becomes synonymous with nature restoration and human prosperity. He rejected the portrayal of Africa as a mere victim of climate change, arguing that it is an outdated narrative about a continent that is also a source of its solutions.
Nigeria highlighted Africa’s rainforests, mangroves, peatlands, and oceans as some of the planet’s largest untapped carbon sinks. Young people in the continent are also seen as the world’s greatest untapped source of innovation and resolve.
Nigeria believes that COP30 must mark the beginning of a new compact—one that recognizes Africa’s ecosystems as global assets deserving of global investment and protection. The country invites all partners to join Nigeria and the African Union in advancing the African Nature Finance Framework, designed to unlock private capital for reforestation, ecosystem restoration, and blue economy development across the continent.