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The Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP) has convened a high level meeting with State Commissioners of Environment and Climate Change, under the auspices of the “Conference of Commissioners of Environment and Climate Change”.

This initiative continues SPP’s commitment to strengthening subnational climate governance by building technical capacity, fostering collaboration, and elevating the voices of state‑level policymakers to the global stage.

In his welcome address, Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke, President of SPP, represented by Mr. Gboyega Olorunfemi, Project Lead at SPP, thanked the Commissioners for their time and commitment to improving climate action in their states.

Okereke observed that, over the years, SPP’s engagements have revealed persistent gaps in subnational climate governance, stating that these gaps can only be closed by empowering local decision‑makers with technical expertise, visibility, and access to funding.

“Through our collaborative work, we have identified key constraints limiting your ability to deliver effective climate governance.

“This is why SPP has decided to support and collaborate with you in closing these gaps, and to ensure that your states can attract climate finance, design robust policies, and participate meaningfully in national and international forums,” he said.

Okereke explained that SPP will strengthen the Conference’s secretariat by deploying a dedicated technical expert to ensure more effective coordination of climate action in their states.

He encouraged the Commissioners to collaborate and share best practices among themselves, instead of working in silos.

In her opening remark, Chief Mrs. Tosin Aluko-Ajisafe, Hon. Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Ekiti State and Chairperson of the Conference of Commissioners on NEWMAP Project, thanked SPP for their efforts at amplifying subnational voices.

“Today marks the culmination of several discussions and follow-ups, and I am glad that we are making progress as a team.

“This is a great opportunity for us to enhance our productivity leveraging the technical expertise of SPP, and I urge my dear colleagues to be fully committed as we work to support our state Governors to achieve our respective climate and environmental goals,” she said.

Participants took turns to express gratitude for this opportunity, and also made suggestions on how the initiative can be improved.

In his contribution, Dr. Olly Owens, Technical Advisor on Forestry Management and Climate Change to the Governor of Ekiti State, agreed that working in silos has watered down the efforts of subnational governments and development partners’

Owens urged SPP to spearhead the integration and concentration of these efforts for more impacts.

“It will be good to help all of the states link together to access opportunities. So, anything that SPP can do to ensure that everybody works together to leverage these opportunities is highly welcome.

“Also, the voice of the subnational is not being considered. What we find when we try to join up with initiatives such as the COP is that so much of the processes and UN architecture are designed for national governments.

“And there is lack of ways which we can directly interact with it, which is a problem in a federal system. Any way you can assist to improve subnational participation at the international stage will also be welcomed,” he stated.

Dr. Felix Odimegwu, Commissioner of Environment, Anambra State, also emphasized the importance of working together rather than in silos stressing that the platform would be beneficial in bringing states up to speed on available options and capacities, with the potential to help weaker states develop quicker.

“I believe that this platform will go a long way in bringing states up to speed on available options and capacities, with the potential to help weaker states develop more quickly. Anambra State is very happy about this and is committed to helping achieve this,” he said.

Prof. Sam Ugwu, Commissioner for Environment, Enugu State expressed satisfaction with the strategic alignment between SPP and the Conference of Commissioners, and emphasized the need for support from SPP to advance climate change policies across all states of the federation.

“I am particularly interested in the issue of climate funding. Earlier this year, we launched our climate policy, and the next step is to ensure that it is implemented. We need this coordination from your organisation to support our efforts,” he said.

Hon Philemon Asonye Ogbonna, Hon Commissioner for Environment for Abia State, represented by Mr Chris Ike, Director Climate Change, recognised the importance of climate finance at the subnational, stating that poor financing for climate action remains abysmally low and look forward to the support from SPP to prioritise the facilitation of access to climate finance.

Hon Aishat Barde, Hon Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, Taraba State acknowledge the support of SPP in facilitating funding for the development of the first of its kind Climate Change Policy and Action Plan for the state.

Barde added that Taraba State is ready for the official launch and is committed to working closely with the SPP team and her partners in driving climate action.

Rt. Hon Chukwu Victor Uzoma, The Hon Commissioner for Environment Ebonyi, commended the coordinating Commissioner and SPP, pledging his willingness to open up Ebonyi for collaboration and development.

Over the years, SPP has championed several projects to bolster subnational climate governance through Mapping of climate impact, action and policy at the state level, to publishing the first Climate Governance Performance Rating and Ranking for Nigeria’s 36 states.

The society has also mobilized funds for the development of climate change policy and action plans in Enugu and Taraba States, and providing platforms and delivering capacity building for Commissioners of Environment and climate‑desk officers.

*Ugochukwu Uzuegbu, Communication Specialist, SPP and

*Elochukwu Anieze, Senior Policy Analyst, SPP*

The Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP)inaugurated a Review Panel on July 8, 2025, to review the methodology and scoring matrix for the forthcoming second edition of the Climate Governance Performance Rating and Ranking of Nigeria’s 36 states

The Review Panel was carefully invited to provide advisory on the methodology and scoring matrix with a view to improving it and ensuring transparency and objectivity in the overall evaluation process.

During the virtual Inauguration session of the Review panel, Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke welcomed the distinguished experts and expressed gratitude for their willingness to contribute their time and expertise in service of the collective goal of improving climate action, especially at the subnational level.

He emphasised the need to continually strengthen the ranking process to better reflect what states are doing to tackle climate change and to inspire greater climate ambition.

Prof. Okereke added that there is need to enhance and improve the process to ensure that it delivers its core objective of accurately shining a spotlight on what states are doing to combat climate change and to motivate them to do more.

“There is a growing consensus that in contexts where legislation may be weak, tools like climate governance rankings can help stimulate accountability and progress,” he said.

“I am delighted that you have accepted to be part of this expert review panel. In a political environment where legislation is not strong, one way to improve climate governance is through climate governance ranking. While no one tool is sufficient, the subnational ranking has gained traction and credibility following the success of the inaugural ranking, helping to stimulate accountability and progress. Your contributions as experts will be critical to ensuring its continued relevance and effectiveness,” he added.

Dr. Iniobong Abiola-Awe, the Director, Department of Climate Change, Federal Ministry of Environment, reiterated the commitment and support of the Federal Ministry of Environment to the Climate Governance Performance Rating and Ranking of Nigeria’s 36 states, and re-assured that states are better empowered to drive climate action, while encouraging other relevant stakeholders and experts to be part of the process of empowering subnational governments.

“I appreciate the SPP team for their commitment to the success of this subnational ranking. Following the success of the first ranking, we have seen a number of states share best practices to ensure that climate policies are enacted and implemented in their states,” she added.

Participants commended the progress in climate change initiatives at the subnational level, while emphasising the importance of measuring governance commitment and tracking implementation impacts.

Dr. Priscilla Achakpa highlighted the need for states to prioritise climate change governance and expressed appreciation for the platform, which she noted has set a precedent for subnational climate action in Nigeria.

Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba lauded the initiative as a welcome development in improving climate governance at the subnational level, stating that what cannot be measured cannot be improved.

In her contribution, Mrs. Halima Bawa noted that while projects undertaken at the subnational level such as solar panel installations are important, she emphasised the need to prioritise nature-based solutions, especially forest conservation and reforestation.

Other participants acknowledged the progress made at the subnational level, highlighting the importance of evaluating governance frameworks and tracking the impact of their climate actions and policies.

Dr Eugene Itua commended the efforts of the SPP and DCC team from the first edition and kickstarting the second edition.

The panel’s recommendations are expected to inform the revised framework for the upcoming edition of the ranking, which will build on the success of the inaugural report to deepen climate ambition and implementation at the state level.

The expert review panel is composed of Prof. Chinedu Nwajiuba, Chair of the Board, West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL); Prof. Olukayode Oladipo, Adjunct Professor, UNILAG; Prof. Daniel Gwary, University of Maiduguri; Dr.Eugene Itua, CEO, Natural Ecocapital; Mrs Halima Bawa, Director, National Council Climate Change Secretariat; Dr. Pricilia Achakpa, Global President of the Women Environment Programme (WEP); Mr. Olumide Idowu, Executive Director, International Climate Change Development Initiative; Mr. Amara Nwankpa, Director General (Acting) Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation; Mr. Eghose Omoigui and Madam Gbemisola Akosa, Executive Director Centre For 21st Century Issues (C21st).

By Ugochukwu Uzuegbu, Communication Specialist, SPP

The Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP) has signed a strategic partnership with the Ambassadors of Dialogue, Climate and Reintegration (DCR Ambassadors) to promote climate education and awareness across Nigerian states with focus on North East starting from Adamawa state as a pilot state. The climate education and awareness project will use the Climate Education Handbook Co-created by SPP and their partners with funding from the University of Bristol, UK.

DCR Ambassadors in partnership with other stakeholders under the umbrella of the Climate Champion Consortium (CCC) is set to implement a six-month climate education programme in Adamawa State. Themed “Accelerating Climate Education through Gamified Action in Junior and Senior Secondary Schools,” the initiative aims to empower teachers and students in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states of North East Nigeria with the knowledge and tools needed to respond to climate challenges.

This intervention is timely and crucial at a time where awareness has remained low – especially in the North East region where environmental degradation, food insecurity and displacement have been exacerbated by climate change.

Speaking on the partnership, Sir Richard Inyamkume, Founder and President of DCR Ambassadors, commended the quality of the manual and its relevance as a resource in advancing climate education in Nigeria.

“The Consortium has unanimously agreed to adopt the manual as a core resource for engaging both teachers and students during the pilot phase and throughout the project. We believe this will significantly enhance the quality and consistency of climate education delivered through our initiative,” he said.

Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke, President of SPP, who secured the funding from University of Bristol and led the effort that developed the manual, expressed strong support for the partnership, describing it as an important step toward building a climate-literate generation.

“I am proud to see that the climate education manual will serve as a tool for transformative learning in Adamawa State and the rest of the Northeast Nigeria in line with the vision I had when I approached the University of Bristol to fund this project. This partnership reflects our shared commitment to ensuring that no region, particularly those most vulnerable to climate impacts, is left behind in the global push for climate action,” he stated.

The project is expected to reach hundreds of students and educators across the North East, starting from Adamawa State, as part of continuous groundwork for a nationwide rollout and further institutionalisation of climate education in Nigeria’s school curricula.

The climate education manual, was developed in collaboration with the Department of Climate Change (DCC)- Federal Ministry of Environment, Secondary Education Borad of the FCT, Department of science, technology and innovation of the FCT; Clean Technology Hub Nigeria; the Office of the First Lady, Enugu State Government; Centre for Climate Change and Development (CCCD-AFUNAI), Ebonyi State; Eco-cyclers; Renewable Energy Training Institute; and Sustyvibes.

The manual was co-created with students, teachers and educational stakeholders.

By Ugochukwu Uzuegbu, Communication Specialist, SPP, and Elochukwu Anieze, Senior Policy Analyst, SPP

By Chukwumerije Okereke and Nnimmo Bassey

Outside actors are increasingly looking to test speculative climate fixes such as solar geoengineering in African countries. But this potentially dangerous course of action would divert financing and support from real solutions, while putting the continent’s ecosystems and communities at risk.

BRISTOL/BENIN CITY – Africa is suffering some of the worst consequences of a climate crisis that it did not create. As rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, droughts, and floods devastate communities and ecosystems across the continent, those in the West who are most responsible for global warming are cooking up plans to test speculative climate fixes in African countries. This gamble with the future of the continent – and the planet – is a grave act of climate injustice and an affront to African leaders, many of whom have publicly expressed their concerns about the promotion and normalization of such technologies.

Perhaps most unsettling is the growing effort to study and implement solar geoengineering (also called solar radiation modification, or SRM), a set of high-risk technologies that seek to reflect sunlight back into space to cool the planet. This strategy does not address the underlying causes of climate change, nor does it offer a long-term adaptation solution. Instead, it would temporarily treat the symptoms, all while causing unanticipated – and potentially disastrous – consequences. The risks associated with solar geoengineering are profound, particularly in climate-vulnerable Africa. SRM could change rainfall patterns and interfere with monsoons, potentially endangering food systems, displacing communities, and causing ecosystem collapse. Moreover, the prospect of outside actors testing such planetary-scale interventions in African countries echoes the many harmful medical, agricultural, and economic experiments on Black people and communities throughout history. More broadly, the Global North’s rush to expand solar-geoengineering research in the Global South raises serious concerns about power, equity, and justice in global climate governance – especially about who is setting the research agenda. True, some of the world’s biggest SRM funders have proclaimed their commitment to include African scientists in knowledge creation. But it is necessary to consider whose interests are being served by this research trajectory. African scientists are increasingly being drawn into initiatives largely funded and shaped by actors in the Global North. The result is a growing asymmetry: African researchers provide knowledge, data, and legitimacy, but the real decisions are made elsewhere.

SRM research is not just a scientific issue; it raises moral, ethical, and political questions that must not be ignored. Should we be allowed to play God with Earth’s thermostat? Who decides what level of cooling is “safe”? How can important decisions be made without accountability mechanisms or the consent of those who will be most affected? Who is responsible if things go wrong, or if there are cross-border consequences? And, most importantly, who controls the technology, and who bears its costs? We must recognize that SRM research can never be impartial: it influences policy priorities, validates the use of certain methods, and has real-world effects. Putting money into studying SRM while not fulfilling climate-finance commitments or delivering on the loss and damage fund established at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh is dangerously shortsighted.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that SRM measures “face large uncertainties and knowledge gaps, as well as substantial risks.” The Convention on Biological Diversity agreed in 2010 to a de facto moratorium on solar geoengineering – a position that it reaffirmed last year – in recognition of the serious threats it poses to biodiversity and local communities. And more than 560 academics from over 67 countries have signed an open letter calling for an international non-use agreement on solar geoengineering. This has spurred a global movement, with more than 2,000 civil-society groups and 4,700 people endorsing the petition. Solar geoengineering could also become an excuse to continue delaying emissions reductions. By creating the illusion of a technological fix, it allows governments and corporations to avoid the challenging work of transforming energy systems and ending fossil-fuel dependence. There are no shortcuts to a healthy planet. To address the climate crisis requires systemic change and a focus on those who are most affected, putting them front and center as leaders of climate action rather than as test subjects for speculative technologies. Africa has already begun doing just that, implementing equitable and just climate solutions such as agroecology, renewable energy, ecosystem restoration, and community-led adaptation. The idea that solar geoengineering is a necessary evil or the last resort for a warming planet is far from true. Instead, it is a potentially dangerous strategy that siphons financing and support from real solutions. Africa is not a laboratory, and we will not stand by as the future of our continent is jeopardized. Africans must show leadership and solidarity in rejecting speculative climate technologies that serve the few at the expense of the many.

1. Chukwumerije Okereke is Professor of Global Governance at the University of Bristol and Co-Director of the Center for Climate and Development at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike.

2. Nnimmo Bassey is Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation.

Historically, the month of June is an important one for climate action. This is because it is the month when the meeting of the Subsidiary Bodies(SB) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) usually holds. These SBs’ meetings are critical as they address leftover discussions from the previous Conference of Parties (COPs), and shape agenda items for upcoming COPs.

This year’s June however took on additional importance as I had to participate in two other key global events in my role as the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Climate Change and Security.

The first of these was the Parliamentary Roundtable on NDCs, which took place in Berlin on 10 June, on the eve of the Global Conference on NDCs. The event was convened by GLOBE Legislators in collaboration with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, NDC Partnership, E3G, Germany’s International Climate Initiative (IKI). This event presented an opportunity to highlight the important role of Members of Parliament in the Nationally Determined Contributions(NDCs) process of their countries. As I stated clearly there, this role is very critical and must start at the inception phases to the implementation phases.

Upon my return from Berlin, I flew to Marrakech to attend the Marrakesh Parliamentary Green Investment Dialogue convened by Climate Parliament and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). There, I spoke on the need to leverage legislative momentum to promote community-based Green Energy Zones, particularly in underserved or off-grid areas.

The overarching message from these events was the need for Members of Parliament to continue to exercise their Constitutional responsibility, and leverage oversight functions to engender more climate action in our countries.

Furthermore, these engagements underscored the importance of multilevel action in order to achieve a resounding impact.

I was therefore pleased when I returned to Nigeria to hear that the Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP), a leading NGO in the climate and environmental space in Nigeria, has taken an important first step to organisational accountability by releasing the report of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the year 2024, while also outlining plans for emissions reductions in the coming years.

This action by SPP is highly commendable and it aligns with my vision as the chairman of the Climate Change and Security Committee at the House of Representatives which has necessitated my engagement with Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government, and the private sector to kickstart the first step of emissions reduction accountability in compliance with the provisions of the Climate Change Act 2021.

It is therefore important to emphasise that the only pathway to aggregated climate action is when individuals, households, communities, organisations, etc, begin to take structured steps to be accountable. The sum of these actions will significantly yield massive impact that will enhance NDCs implementation, and further bolster Nigeria’s journey to sustainable development.

As a committee, we intend to expand our engagements with all organisations and therefore expect to see similar efforts at climate accountability by both the private and public sectors of the Nigerian economy.

SPP has laid down the gauntlet. We expect to see similar actions from other organisations – companies with over 50 employees; MDAs at national and subnational levels; diplomatic bodies; etc, following suit. As part of our Constitutional responsibility, we will follow up and demand reports.

Rep Kama Nkemkanma is the Chair of the Committee on Climate Change and Security, House of Representatives, and Nigeria’s Parliamentary Champion for Climate Change