By Abbas Nazil
Nigeria has reaffirmed its commitment to global climate action while pursuing national development priorities through policies and initiatives aimed at building a climate-resilient and low-carbon future.
The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, stated this on Sunday in Abuja during a stakeholders’ engagement on the socialisation of Nigeria’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP) for development partners and the private sector.
The Minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Salihu Aminu Usman, said the NAP is one of the country’s significant milestones in addressing the growing impacts of climate change.
According to him, the plan provides a comprehensive framework for identifying climate risks, reducing vulnerabilities, strengthening resilience and integrating climate adaptation into national, sectoral and subnational development planning.
He said the NAP establishes priorities across critical sectors, including agriculture, water resources, health, infrastructure, energy, biodiversity, forestry, disaster risk management and human settlements.
Lawal noted that closing Nigeria’s adaptation gap would require new partnerships, innovative financing mechanisms, technology transfer, stronger institutions and sustained investments.
He stressed the need to mainstream climate risks into every aspect of development planning and decision-making, noting that development partners had played an important role in Nigeria’s climate journey by strengthening institutions, building technical capacity, improving climate data systems and facilitating access to international climate finance.
The Minister also said the Federal Government remained committed to creating an enabling environment for private sector investment through policy reforms, institutional coordination and partnerships that would reduce investment risks and encourage innovation.
He urged stakeholders to use the engagement to identify practical solutions, develop bankable adaptation programmes, strengthen institutional collaboration and mobilise investments needed to move the NAP from planning to implementation.
“Together, let us build a future where every investment strengthens resilience, every partnership accelerates progress, and every Nigerian has the opportunity to thrive despite the challenges of a changing climate,” he said.
The Director of Climate Change in the Ministry, Dr Iniagbon Abiola-Awe, said successful implementation of the NAP could not be achieved by government alone, stressing the importance of partnerships involving development partners, private and financial institutions, research organisations, civil society and local communities.
She said the engagement was designed to deepen understanding of the NAP, present its strategic priorities and investment opportunities, and foster collaboration towards accelerating its implementation.
Abiola-Awe further said the workshop would help identify areas for collaboration and mobilise resources required to translate the plan into tangible actions capable of improving the resilience of people, ecosystems and the economy.
She urged participants to share experiences, identify opportunities for collaboration and provide practical recommendations that would strengthen the implementation of the NAP.
In a goodwill message, the Chief of Mission of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Sharon Dimanche, reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to supporting Nigeria in implementing the NAP and ensuring that climate action contributes to stronger, safer and more resilient communities.
The engagement brought together participants from the public sector, private and financial institutions, academia, civil society organisations and development partners, including IOM, the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation.
