By Faridat Salifu
Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADeV Nigeria) on Tuesday hosted a Capacity-Building Workshop on Green Public Procurement (GPP) for sustainable cooling systems at the Rockview Royale Hotel, Wuse 2, Abuja.
The workshop convened national policy actors, procurement professionals, technical experts, industry representatives, academia, and development partners, including UNEP, UNIDO, UNDP, and ECOWAS.
Dr Leslie Adogame, Executive Director of SRADeV Nigeria, welcomed participants, explaining that the workshop is part of the ongoing project “Promoting Fast Action to Reduce Fluorinated Gas Emissions and Other Ozone-Depleting Substances (ODS) in Nigeria”, implemented with support from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA-UK) since 2025.
The project supports Nigeria’s obligations under the Montreal Protocol and its Kigali Amendment, which aims to protect the ozone layer and reduce the use of high-global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants.
“The workshop aims to build technical and institutional capacity among procurement officers, regulators, and industry actors to integrate green public procurement principles into Nigeria’s cooling sector,” Dr Adogame said.
She noted that participants would develop actionable pathways for sustainable cooling systems guided by lifecycle cost analysis, low-GWP technology adoption, and alignment with Nigeria’s National Cooling Action Plan (NCAP) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
The project objectives include supporting Nigeria’s National Ozone Office (NOO), strengthening HFC commitments under the Kigali Amendment, accelerating real HFC reductions through ExCom guidelines and projects, improving monitoring, reporting, verification, and enforcement (MRV+E) mechanisms, eliminating HFC-23 and other fluorochemical production emissions, and promoting lifecycle refrigerant management to reduce ODS and HFC emissions.
Engr Idris Abdullahi, Director of the National Ozone Office, delivered the keynote address, highlighting the strategic importance of cooling in Nigeria.
He described cooling as a critical enabler of productivity, public health, food security, and economic growth, noting that refrigeration and air-conditioning systems account for 40 to 60 percent of electricity consumption in many buildings, often met with inefficient equipment that consumes excessive power and uses ozone-depleting refrigerants.
Abdullahi stressed green procurement as a powerful policy tool for government to reduce long-term energy and operational costs, promote energy-efficient and climate-friendly technologies, protect the ozone layer, stimulate innovation, and encourage local manufacturing.
He urged public sector institutions to lead by example, emphasizing that government procurement decisions directly shape market investments and accelerate the adoption of sustainable cooling solutions.
The workshop also outlined Nigeria’s policy and regulatory framework, including the Public Procurement Act, 2007, NESREA Act, Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS), National Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy, and Nigeria’s NDC under the Paris Agreement, alongside international commitments to the Montreal Protocol and Kigali Amendment.
The workshop goals were to raise awareness and deepen understanding of green procurement, develop guidelines towards a National Action Plan (NAP) on Green Procurement, promote integration of MRV systems into procurement practices, and foster multi-stakeholder dialogue and collaboration.
The target audience included decision-makers, procurement managers, public procurement professionals, suppliers, contractors, and project and technical managers.
Expected outcomes included enhanced understanding of climate-related refrigerant issues, increased quality and quantity of public-oriented climate interventions, stronger collaboration between environmental NGOs, civil society, policymakers, and technical stakeholders, and greater public awareness and behavioral change toward green procurement.
“This workshop comes at a critical time in Nigeria’s development journey,” Abdullahi said. “Policies alone do not deliver results — people do. The success of green procurement depends on informed officers, committed management, strong inter-agency collaboration, and institutional accountability.”
Participants are expected to leave the workshop with a stronger understanding of environmentally sound procurement practices, practical strategies to implement low-GWP cooling systems, and the capacity to integrate green procurement into climate action strategies nationwide.
Dr. Adogame concluded by emphasizing that sustainable cooling and green procurement are not optional aspirations but policy imperatives, economic necessities, environmental obligations, and moral responsibilities to present and future generations. She urged all stakeholders to leverage the workshop to position Nigeria as a leader in sustainable development in Africa.
