By Abbas Nazil
Edo State is developing a stronger climate, environmental and energy policy framework ahead of the 2026 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP31, with stakeholders seeking improved climate finance access and stronger involvement of state governments in international climate action.
The initiative emerged from a one-day capacity-building and knowledge-exchange workshop organised by Connected Advocacy through its Global Localization Forum in partnership with the Edo State Ministry of Environment and Sustainability.
The workshop was held under a wider PRE-COP31 policymaker advocacy and knowledge-exchange series aimed at helping African subnational governments translate global climate commitments into practical actions at state and community levels.
COP31 is expected to hold in Antalya, Türkiye, from November 9 to 20, 2026.
Participants at the Edo engagement examined ways of improving coordination, strengthening climate finance readiness and ensuring that the state is better positioned to present its climate priorities at COP31 and other international platforms.
The organisers said effective climate action at the local level requires closer collaboration among governments, communities, development organisations and other stakeholders.
Representing the Edo State Government, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainability, Mrs Edith Ebomoyi, who stood in for Commissioner Hon Barr Nosa Adams, said there was a need to bridge the gap between where climate finance and policy decisions are concentrated and where the effects of climate change are most directly experienced.
She identified flooding, coastal erosion, desertification, humanitarian crises and biodiversity loss among environmental pressures affecting communities at the subnational level.
Ebomoyi said the PRE-COP31 engagements were intended to develop a pipeline of states with the technical capacity and practical priorities required to participate meaningfully in global climate processes.
She said states needed to define their climate priorities and develop workable strategies before their representatives arrive at the international negotiations.
The Team Lead of Connected Advocacy and Convener of the Global Localization Forum, Prince Israel Orekha, said the initiative was created to provide African state and local governments with the tools required to strengthen advocacy, coordination and readiness for climate financing.
Orekha said the forum seeks to connect subnational officials with climate finance institutions and multilateral platforms while building their technical capacity to develop bankable climate initiatives.
He said the approach was intended to improve the visibility of local priorities within international climate discussions and help governments move from climate commitments to projects capable of attracting financial support.
Orekha said Edo State’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainability was already working to strengthen its climate governance framework.
He said the workshop would build on that capacity by supporting the development of a coordinated portfolio of climate initiatives that could be presented at COP31 and to climate finance institutions.
The engagement also highlighted the growing role of subnational governments in responding to environmental challenges, particularly where climate impacts are experienced directly by communities.
Stakeholders said stronger coordination between state governments, communities, development partners and international climate institutions would be important in converting global climate commitments into practical interventions across African communities.
