By Barbara Nwaiwu
The Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP) and the Department of Climate Change (DCC) under Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Environment have commenced preparations for the third edition of the SCGPRR aimed at strengthening climate accountability and governance across the 36 states of the federation.
The launch of the Subnational Climate Governance Performance Rating and Ranking 3.0 (SCGPRR) was officially announced on Friday, with the inauguration of a Quality Assurance and Expert Review Panel alongside mobilisation meetings involving Climate Desk Officers and State Directors from all 36 states.
According to the organisers, the ranking initiative was conceived in 2024 to address major gaps in climate governance at the subnational level, including the absence of a credible mechanism for measuring and comparing states’ climate governance performance, limited evidence for development partners seeking to align funding with governance readiness and the lack of structured peer learning among states.
Now in its third edition, the initiative has evolved into what organisers described as Nigeria’s first evidence based benchmarking system for assessing climate governance performance across all states.
Speaking during the onboarding session for the review panel, the Technical Project Lead for the ranking and Senior Policy Analyst at SPP, Timothy Ogenyi, presented the refined methodology and scoring framework for the assessment.
He explained that the updated framework incorporated lessons and stakeholder feedback from previous editions with stronger emphasis on project implementation and measurable climate outcomes.
Senior Policy Analyst at SPP, Nnaemeka Oruh, said the assessment would evaluate states across five major pillars, including climate governance and institutional frameworks, policies and action plans, project implementation, climate finance and online visibility.
“So, it’s not just about you having all of these fanciful ideas and just having all of the policies, but never really implementing them. One of the things that we are going to be doing this period is to interrogate project implementation to be sure that it addresses a specific climate challenge that your state is noted for,” he said.
President of SPP, Chukwumerije Okereke, represented by Project Lead and Senior Policy Analyst, Gboyega Olorunfemi, commended members of the review panel for their contributions to previous editions of the ranking.
He said their involvement had strengthened the credibility and integrity of the process and expressed confidence in their ability to ensure the success of the third edition.
Director of the DCC at the Federal Ministry of Environment, Iniobong Abiola-Awe, described the ranking as an important tool for evaluating climate governance and climate response efforts across Nigerian states and local governments.
“This independent expert review team is saddled with the responsibility of showcasing the credibility, integrity, and legitimacy of the ranking. Your selection was carefully made not for your technical expertise alone, but for your independence, impartiality, and your demonstrated commitment to evidence-based assessments,” she said.
She added that the independent review process would strengthen the technical foundation of the ranking and improve stakeholder confidence in the assessment exercise.
Chairman of the Expert Review Panel, Chinedum Nwajiuba, also commended members of the panel for volunteering their expertise to support climate governance development in Nigeria.
The panel includes representatives from climate focused organisations and institutions including the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), Women Environment Programme, Centre for 21st Century Issues and the Natural Resource Governance Institute.
During separate engagements with Climate Desk Officers and State Directors, organisers also provided orientation on data collection procedures and expectations for the assessment process.
Okereke said the ranking had gradually evolved into a delivery focused programme centred on accountability, political commitment and institutional capacity building across states.
He described state officers as the “engine” of the ranking process and stressed the need for accurate and quality data submissions.
Abiola-Awe urged states to regard the ranking as a governance improvement tool rather than a competition among states.
Discussions during the meetings also focused on teamwork, evidence based reporting and inter ministerial collaboration in preparing state submissions.
According to the project timeline released by SPP and the ministry, questionnaires and data collection tools are expected to go live for all 36 states in late May, while the data collection phase is scheduled to conclude in June.
The final verified ranking report is expected to be published and officially launched in September.
