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Nigeria is strengthening its transparency framework, reliable sub national data to determine the quality of its national greenhouse gas inventories, adaptation reporting and Biennial Transparency Reports.
Malam Balarabe Lawal, the Minister of Environment, said this at the Peer Learning Workshop for 36 Commissioners for Environment on Sub National Climate Governance Performance rating and ranking in Abuja on Thursday, February 26, 2026.
Lawal, who was represented by Dr Iniobong Abiola-Awe, the Director in the Department of Climate Change in the Ministry, said that Nigeria’s climate response is at a critical stage and states are the engine rooms of implementation.
“Whether in advancing clean energy adoption, promoting nature-based solutions, strengthening resilience to flooding, or improving waste management systems, tangible progress happens at the state and local levels.
“As a Party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, we have made ambitious commitments under our Nationally Determined Contribution translating those commitments into measurable results requires strong sub national engagement
“This Community of Practice (CoP) is therefore designed to serve as a structured technical platform to bridge policy and practice,” the minister said.
According to him, CoP aims to strengthen coordination between Federal and State climate governance systems, promote peer learning and exchange of best practices, standard due Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) frameworks across states.
Lawal further said that the CoP would also improve readiness for climate finance and carbon market opportunities, and enhance institutional capacity for planning, Implementation, and impact evaluation.
He added that, through this platform, they can harmonise methodologies, align Indicators, and ensure consistency in reporting climate actions nationally and internationally.
“The Department of Climate Change stands ready to provide technical guidance, templates, and coordination mechanisms to support States in this regard.
“Today’s engagement is not a one-off event. It marks the beginning of sustained collaboration, We envision regular technical exchanges, thematic working groups, and shared digital platforms for data and knowledge management.
“If we align our efforts and institutionalise peer learning, we will not only strengthen Nigeria’s national climate architecture but also position our states as credible actors in the global climate arena,” Lawal said.
Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke, the President and Chairman Board of Trustee Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP), said that for a very long time, national policies about climate change have focused on the national level while for a very long time, states were ignored.
“SPP, in collaboration with the Department for Climate Change, Federal Ministry of Environment, came up with a unique initiative to promote climate action at the state level.
“What we did was to start the ranking and rating of climate governance initiatives actions and policy across the 36 states.
“We released the first result two years ago and we released the second result last year and what we found was that there is an incredible array of fascinating climate action happening at almost all of the states of the federation.
“What we are doing today is not only to celebrate that increase in recognition and action, but also to create an environment where all the commissioners will come together and learn from one another,” Okereke said.
He added that the workshop would reveal what each state has been doing to ensure its ranking position because the purpose of the ranking is not just scoring.
“It will also galvanise, increase and facilitate climate action on the sub national level. Because, at the end of the day, these are the people that are actually at the front line of climate vulnerability and climate risks.
“On the other hand, without action on the sub national level, there will be little that Nigeria can do overall to increase or ramp up its climate resilience and mitigation.
“Today is about peer learning, but also it gives the Commissioners the opportunity to look at the ranking methodology and the framework to make their own input.
“So that when we go for the third ranking, everybody can be sure to say that we co-created this ranking methodology and that we own it together as a community.
He said that the states are allowed to tell what climate action they have been doing and to what extent is their state actually attracting climate finance. Because, at the end of the day, without finance, very little or nothing can be done.
“One of the most remarkable things that we have seen between the first and the second ranking is that almost all of the 36 states improved in their climate governance performance,” Okereke said.
Dr Nura Kazaure, Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, Jigawa State, said: “We are going to ensure we adopt all climate measures in climate governance ranking methodology in order to come with a good template for all states to know, rankings entail.”
By Abigael Joshua
