A critical assessment of Nigeria's Climate Change Law
Climate change refers to the significant variation or variability in climate that has persisted and measured over a period of time. It has been identified as one of the greatest threats facing the planet today. These variations are caused majorly by anthropogenic factors such as the emission of greenhouse gases at a harmful level into the atmosphere. Although climate change effects are felt globally, it is projected that Africa will be severely hit by the impacts of climate change even though the continent contributes very little to the activities fuelling the change. This is largely due to the continent's weak capacity to adapt to these changes. In Nigeria, the effects of climate change are apparent in water scarcity in areas prone to drought, floods in the coastal areas and desertification in the northern part of the Country. The emergence of international instruments such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, under which countries have committed to limiting global warming to well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial level represent the main international framework in addressing climate change challenges. Following this international initiative, countries have begun enacting domestic climate change legislation to give effect to their obligations under the international regime. The need to enact climate change legislation has gained global momentum particularly in the last three decades because climate change is a global problem and managing it requires a global and multi-level initiative. In a bid to realise its commitments under these global agreements, Nigeria recently passed the Climate Change Act, 2021. The law is national framework legislation that aims to address climate change challenges across various sectors. It also seeks to facilitate the realisation of the Country's net-zero carbon emission target, provide for adequate climate finance measures and mainstream climate change actions into national development priorities. This new law is an essential tool to translate Nigeria's emission pledges as contained in its Nationally Determined Contribution made under the Paris Agreement into action. Against this backdrop, this minor dissertation provides a critical review of Nigeria's contemporary climate change law against certain elements identified by scholars as essential components of a climate change framework law. It also examines how the framework law interact with other climate change policies and how they all fit together under a regulatory regime. Where anomalies or deficiencies are identified, it proffers solutions that are compatible with the political and socio-economic realities of the Country.
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Institute of Marine and Environmental Law