By Rasheeda Hamidu
Climate and energy stakeholders have called for greater accountability in the management of climate finance and implementation of energy-transition projects to ensure Nigeria’s net-zero commitments deliver measurable benefits.
The stakeholders made the call on Tuesday in Abuja at a one-day Justice and Energy Transition Roundtable organised by the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation with support from the Ford Foundation.
They said Nigeria’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2060 must go beyond policy announcements and funding pledges to demonstrate improvements in energy access, livelihoods, employment, investment and community welfare.
Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change, Dr Tenioye Majekodunmi, said credible data, strong measurement, reporting and verification systems, and effective transparency mechanisms were needed to determine whether climate interventions were achieving their intended results.
Majekodunmi said climate action should support development by expanding energy access, creating jobs, strengthening industries and improving living standards, while calling for concessional climate finance, development finance, private capital and blended-finance instruments.
She warned that Nigeria’s energy transition could not be considered just if emissions declined while inequality increased or communities affected by climate and economic changes were excluded from decisions shaping their future.
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Prime Business Africa, Dr Marcel Mbamalu, urged journalists to scrutinise climate-finance pledges and establish how much funding was promised, disbursed and ultimately converted into completed projects.
Mbamalu said journalists should investigate the outcomes of energy investments, including the number of households gaining electricity, effects on livelihoods and benefits reaching affected communities, rather than focusing only on project launches and commissioning ceremonies.
Research and Policy Officer at the Africa Policy Research Institute, Olumide Onitekun, said Nigeria risked reproducing inequalities associated with the fossil-fuel era unless justice was deliberately incorporated into the energy transition.
Onitekun called for distributive, recognition, procedural and restorative justice, alongside comparable performance data and accessible complaint and remedy mechanisms for communities affected by energy projects.
Director-General of the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, Amara Nwakpa, said justice should be incorporated into energy-transition policies from the design stage, while founder of the Women Environmental Protection Programme, Priscilla Achapka, called for accountability on ownership, land, tariffs, employment, revenues and decision-making.
NatureNews reports that the stakeholders said the transition should ultimately be measured by whether Nigerians gain access to reliable, affordable and useful energy for essential needs, including cooking, education, healthcare, businesses, food preservation and public safety
