By Faridat Salifu
Nigeria must seize the Baku to Belem climate finance roadmap as a springboard to transform its climate vulnerabilities into scalable green investments, according to a new national advisory.
The roadmap, launched after COP28 in Dubai, challenges countries to prepare more ambitious and finance-ready Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) ahead of COP30 in Brazil.
Nigeria’s Senior Special Assistant to the President on Climate Finance and Stakeholder Engagement, Ibrahim Shelleng, said the next six months would determine whether Nigeria emerges as a regional climate leader or remains behind.
Shelleng warned that climate change is already damaging the country’s economy, stressing that Nigeria risks losing up to 6.6 per cent of its GDP by 2050 if business-as-usual continues.
With desertification threatening the North, sea level rise in the South, and repeated flooding in central states, Shelleng called climate action not just urgent but economically strategic.
He noted that Nigeria needs over $17 billion annually in climate finance, yet receives only a fraction of that, due to limited institutional coordination and weak project pipelines.
Shelleng emphasized that the Baku to Belem process is a “make-or-break” opportunity to submit investment-ready, inclusive and bankable climate action plans.
He said Nigeria’s NDCs must shift from pledges to delivery, backed by robust projects in clean cooking, solar mini-grids, green hydrogen, mangrove restoration, and urban resilience.
Highlighting the potential of climate-smart agriculture and the blue economy, Shelleng said bankable projects in food security and coastal protection could unlock global funding and domestic jobs.
He urged Nigeria to operationalize its Climate Change Act of 2021 and activate the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) as a coordination hub, not just a regulatory body.
According to Shelleng, Nigeria must act like a country ready to manage climate finance—by building trust, improving governance, and aligning its budget frameworks with climate targets.
He cited other African countries like Kenya, Egypt, and Rwanda already developing national climate finance strategies and attracting multi-billion-dollar support from donors and development banks.
Shelleng recommended that Nigeria establish a climate finance tracking platform, aggregate data for decision-making, and empower states and LGAs to initiate their own climate-resilient projects.
He also called for Nigeria to engage in global coalitions such as the Paris Pact for People and Planet and advocate for innovative, non-debt finance mechanisms like solidarity levies.
Shelleng rejected the idea that climate finance is charity, saying it should be treated as smart investment in the country’s infrastructure, energy systems, and environmental security.
He urged the private sector to see climate finance as a profitable opportunity, especially in sectors like renewable energy, waste management, transport, and agriculture.
Shelleng concluded that Nigeria has the talent, youth population and ecological assets to lead Africa’s green transition—but only if it presents a unified and credible strategy.
He said, “The clock is ticking and the competition for climate finance is fierce Nigeria must lead or be left behind.”
