Author Archives: sppnigeria

As the Honourable Commissioner of Lagos State, it is with immense pride that I reflect on the performance of Lagos State in the 2nd Edition of the Subnational Climate Governance Performance Ranking (SCGPR 2.0) developed and released by the Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP), under the leadership of Professor Chukwumerije Okereke, in collaboration with the Department of Climate Change (DCC), Federal Ministry of Environment and other development partners – the report of which was launched in Abuja on 14 October 2025 by the Honourable Minister of Environment, Mr Balarabe Abbas.

For two consecutive years now, Lagos has been rated Nigeria’s best-performing state in Climate Governance, this time scoring 315 out of 360. This achievement is not just about numbers; it reflects years of deliberate work, strong policies, and the collective effort of every stakeholder, our agencies, partners, and the people of Lagos in advancing climate action.  It also shows how evidence-based benchmarking such as the SCGPR directly drives innovation, institutional reform, and service delivery. By continuously aligning our priorities with the ranking indicators, we have been able to focus on high-impact sectors — protecting more than 3 million residents in flood-prone areas, supporting over 150,000 households with cleaner energy options, and strengthening livelihood resilience across our 57 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and associated Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs). Our goal remains to keep Lagos at the forefront of environmental sustainability and climate resilience, while ensuring that every policy we implement improves livelihoods, reduces vulnerability, and enhances the well-being of Lagosians.

Over the years, Lagos State has strengthened its institutional architecture by integrating climate and environmental functions across its respective Ministries, Departments, and Agencies – a policy direction which I am glad is recognised and valued in the ranking methodology. Lagos also has a dedicated Department of Climate Change and Environmental Planning where cross-sectoral actions spanning transport, energy, waste, and water are coordinated. This institutional synergy, reinforced by insights from the ranking framework, has improved efficiency in service delivery, reducing duplication of efforts and ensuring that climate benefits reach citizens faster and at lower cost.

Through this, we have developed the Lagos Climate Adaptation and Resilience Action Plan, which includes vulnerability mapping and sectoral coordination with project pipelines. We equally have the Lekki Low-Carbon Demonstration Zone (LLCDZ), developed in partnership with China and local investors — an ambitious innovation that seeks to reduce carbon emissions by establishing a low-carbon zone in the Lekki Free Trade Zone. This project alone is projected to attract over ₦120 billion in green investments, create 5,000 direct and indirect jobs, and cut carbon emissions by an estimated 200,000 tonnes annually. These initiatives are not only mitigating greenhouse-gas emissions but also stimulating economic growth and creating inclusive opportunities for Lagosians.

As one of the first states to have a climate change policy and several action plans, Lagos State has updated its environmental standards and legal codes, including flood-control ordinances, waste regulations, and green-building standards. We have also concluded our Clean Cookstove and Carbon Offset Policy and launched the first subnational carbon exchange in Africa (the second globally after Canada). Through this platform, more than 100 small and medium-scale enterprises are expected to benefit from carbon credit trading by 2026, generating up to $15 million annually in new green income streams and enabling households to transition away from firewood and kerosene.

One of the criterion for the ranking project is climate finance and budgeting where Lagos also toped the chart.  Following insights from the ranking methodology, Lagos has continued to improve on its financial commitment to climate resilience, providing budget lines for urban greening, flood mitigation, and renewable energy. Through the Lagos State carbon exchange, we are targeting emissions reduction across the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) with ₦1 billion annual green allocations per LGA. These investments have already helped upgrade over 40 critical drainage systems, reducing flood-related losses that used to cost the state an estimated ₦45 billion yearly, while simultaneously improving water quality and public health outcomes.

In Lagos, we translate policies and plans into measurable outcomes. We are on course with the 8 MW first-of-its-kind Floating Solar PV Plant at Lagos State University; Rooftop Solar Programme targeting 10,000 homes; and Waste-to-Wealth Initiatives that have created over 12,000 green jobs in waste recycling and resource recovery. Collectively, these initiatives are providing cleaner electricity to educational and healthcare institutions serving more than 500,000 people, reducing dependence on diesel, and cutting annual emissions by over 50,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. We are committed to effective communication that ensures the Lagos public takes ownership of climate progress. We also use social media, press briefings, and digital storytelling to convey our stories and inspire behavioural change.

Lagos State has a culture of excellence. While it is gratifying to top the ranking table, we see it as a renewed call to deepen innovation, broaden citizen and stakeholder engagement, and enhance our green-financing portfolios as we strengthen collaboration and expand our resilience footprint. The Ranking has reinforced an accountability loop that ensures climate commitments are not abstract promises but concrete actions that protect lives, reduce poverty, and enhance urban well-being.

Our leadership in SCGPR 2.0 confirms that sustained institutional commitment, credible funding, and visible accountability are the true pillars of climate progress. The Subnational Rating and Ranking has provided a transparent yardstick that keeps us accountable and has catalysed wider peer learning — inspiring at least ten other states to adopt similar climate planning frameworks and budget tracking systems. We thank the Honourable Minister for Environment, Hon. Balarabe Abbas Lawal, for owning this laudable initiative.

We dedicate this achievement to every Lagosian, to the visionary ambition of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and to all our partners in building a cleaner, safer, and more sustainable future. We will continue to lead by example — for Nigeria, for Africa, and for our planet. When Lagos leads, over 25 million people benefit — through better waste management, cleaner energy, safer housing, and new opportunities for green enterprise. Come SCGPR 3.0, I believe Lagos will lead again with Nigeria benefiting, and the planet winning.

 

Hon Barr Tokunbo Wahab

Hon Commissioner of Environment, Lagos State.

As COP30 draws near and countries prepare their positions, a group of over 30 African stakeholders have issued a seven-point communiqué calling for urgent coordinated action that links climate ambition to development needs.

The communiqué which was  issued at the end of a workshop convened by the Society for Planet and Prosperity on 31 October, 2025, to shape Africa’s negotiating position ahead of COP30 in Belém, framed Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as practical roadmaps for national development, stressing that for NDCs to be effective they must be ambitious, feasible, harmonized with national development plans, and backed by an inclusive processes rooted in the continent’s social and economic realities.

The seven-point communiqué set out clear political and operational asks: calling on African governments to treat the climate crisis as a developmental emergency that requires sustained effort from states, the private sector and communities; defending the spirit of multilateralism even as some countries seek to evade historical responsibility; using NDCs as a platform for cooperative engagement with developed partners under the Paris Agreement, African Union Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals.

A central demand of the stakeholders is the importance of continued support from developed countries. They thus called on developed countries to continue providing the “requisite financial (grant and concession-based), technological, and technical support” that African states need to implement NDCs.

They further urged donor and finance institutions to prioritise bankable, community-led projects that scale local innovations into pipelines that will be attractive to investors.

Alongside finance and technology, the statement stressed the need for inclusive processes that integrate gender, youth and community voices at every stage of NDCs development and implementation.

The workshop also featured an expert panel session, with panelists x-raying challenges and proffering possible solutions as we prepare for the COP30 negotiations and its outcomes.

Mrs. Gbemisola Akosa, Executive Director, Center for 21^st Century Issues (C21st), provided the gender perspective. Acknowledging that about 85% of African countries have incorporated gender into their NDCs, she emphasized the need for gender-responsive climate actions, gender-disaggregated data, and gender budgeting in NDCs, while noting that current climate finance for gender and women’s issues remains insufficient.

“We need to ensure that, not only that we are putting gender equality in our policies, but also, that we are implementing it on the ground getting the desired result,” she said.

Discussing the challenges and progress of the Paris Agreement’s NDC cycle, Iskander Vernoit, Executive Director, IMAL Initiative for Climate and Development, highlighted the disappointment over finance commitment outcomes at COP29. He emphasized the need for increased ambition, the importance of the global stocktake and the role of finance in NDCs Implementation.

“As much as we don’t bear the responsibility for climate damages, and in a just world, we would not have to pay for them. We are being obliged as African countries to pay for these things because of a lack of justice at the international level, and because the historic polluters from Europe and so on are not fulfilling their climate finance obligations in a way that would ensure equity. But, even in the absence of that international climate finance, as African governments, we have obligations to protect our citizens, which cannot wait,” he said.

Iskander also described Morocco’s NDC development process, which involved a whole-of-government approach and integrated existing climate-related plans. He concluded by addressing the need for legal obligations on rich countries to provide climate finance and the potential for legal action if these obligations are not met.

Representing the youth constituency, Samuel Okorie, Advisory Board Member, Santiago Network, discussed the role of youth in Africa’s climate action and NDC 3.0 implementation, highlighting their potential to drive investment and innovation. He criticized the marginalization of youth in decision-making processes and called for their strategic inclusion in policy development and implementation.

“There should be a long-term strategic partnership with youth initiatives, with youth businesses. Is that time we stop being afraid of partnering with youth businesses, but then we start embracing them, and also try to see how their models could fit into the climate action plans of Africa or of various countries,” he stated.

With COP30 on the horizon, there have been growing concerns over the slow pace of submission of NDCs— the Paris-Agreement tool through which countries set national mitigation and adaptation commitments.

These demands come against a worrying backdrop as the UNFCCC’s latest NDC synthesis report shows that between 1 January 2024 and 30 September 2025 only 64 Parties submitted new or updated NDCs, of which 13 are African countries. This underlines a gap between ambition and readiness to implement.

In July, SPP’s Scoping Paper “On the Road to COP30 and Beyond” echoed this urgency, finding persistent gaps in governance frameworks, whole-of-society approach to NDCs development and implementation, access to finance, etc. The Paper therefore recommended that NDCs be reframed into implementable development plans.

The communiqué concluded with a call for African countries to speak with one voice and build alliances at COP30:

“Stand together with one voice, build alliances, and ensure that negotiations reflect current African priorities. In that vein, the Baku to Belém Roadmap; Article 6 and Carbon Markets; Global Goal on Adaptation; among others must be priority areas of focus,” it stated.

African countries negotiate at COPs as a coordinated block through the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), combining technical preparation, ministerial coordination and coalition building with other developing country blocks. This unified position creates continent-wide asks on priority areas.

For negotiators and observers, the communiqué offers a concise advisory and negotiating checklist.

The webinar which was attended by several stakeholders from across Africa was hosted by Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke and moderated by Gboyega Olorunfemi, Team Lead, SPP and Nnaemeka Oruh, Senior Policy Analyst, SPP. Other speakers include: Gbemisola Titilope Akosa, Executive Director, Center for 21^st Century Issues, Nigeria; Iskander Erzini Vernoit, Executive Director, IMAL Initiative for Climate and Development, Morrocco; and Samuel Okorie, Advisory Board Member, UNFCCC Santiago Network.

 

Read the full communique: https://shorturl.at/VNKtC

Ugochukwu Uzuegbu

Communication Officer, SPP

Nigerian Civil Society giant, the Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP), is convening a key engagement among African climate change stakeholders as the continent prepares for COP30 in Belém.

Despite only 13 out of 54 African countries having submitted their NDCs 3.0, the main hindrances can be attributed to limited time, technical capacity gaps, and inadequate financing.

As countries work to close these gaps before submission, it is important to reflect on the development process, and most importantly, implementation needs. These would help shape Africa’s stance and messaging at COP30.

SPP is therefore convening a multi-country stakeholders’ webinar to discuss the NDCs situation in Africa, with the view of interrogating how COP30 can be leveraged to advance practical efforts that will support implementation.

The event, scheduled for 11a.m West African Time on Friday, 31 October, 2025, seeks to bring African stakeholders together to discuss the current landscape of national climate commitments (NDCs) in Africa, hindrances to effective implementation, the intersection between NDCs implementation and sustainable development, key messaging for COP30, etc.

Entitled “COP30: Coordinating Ambitious NDCs Development and Implementation in Africa”, the virtual webinar will feature a presentation on Africa’s current NDCs landscape, interrogate the governance framework that should guide NDCs development and implementation in the continent, highlight country, gender, and youth experiences and solutions, and recommend what should be the focus of African countries during negotiations and bilateral at COP30. While this year has been mostly dominated by conversations on NDCS 3.0, submissions as at 1st October, 2025, still leaves a gap of over 30GtCO2e. What that means is that either the remaining countries overstretch their ambitions or the 61 that already submitted retrieve theirs and increase ambition, the path to reaching expected goals will include ensuring that implementation goes beyond commitments.

Several experts have identified that exploring other options for emissions reduction can help enhance the final reduction output by 2035. Yet little has been said about supporting the conditional targets of developing countries, which can help expand targets.

This webinar seeks to discuss all of these issues while framing a message that can help guide Africa’s multilateral and bilateral engagements at COP30, recognising the key intersection between climate action and Africa’s sustainable development.

Speakers include: Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke, President, SPP (Host), Iskander Erzini Vernoit, Executive Director, IMAL Initiative for Climate and Development, Gbemisola Titilope Akosa, Executive Director, Centre For 21st Century Issues (C21st), Samuel C. Okorie, UNFCCC Santiago Network Advisory Board Member, Youth Rep, Peter Odhengo, Head of Climate Finance and Green Economy Unit, Financing Locally-Led Climate Action (FLLoCA) Programme, Kenya; Tirivanhu Muhwati, Climate Scientist in the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Zimbabwe, Gboyega Olorunfemi, Project Lead, SPP, and Nnaemeka Oruh, Senior Policy Analyst (Climate Change), SPP.

Register to join the event here: https://shorturl.at/uLZ17

The Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP), in collaboration with the Department of Climate Change (DCC), Federal Ministry of Environment, continued its capacity-building workshop for Climate Desk Officers and Directors of Climate Change from Nigeria’s subnational governments. The workshop which began on 22 October 2025 with a session on data collection and greenhouse-gas inventory evaluation and reporting, focused on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of climate projects in the second series. Participating Climate Change Desk Officers shared their M&E experience, revealing a mix of beginners and intermediate exposure to M&E practice.

Facilitated by Mr. Gboyega Olorunfemi, Project Lead at SPP, the training sought to address the challenges in monitoring and evaluating climate change projects at the state level, with an emphasis on designing effective monitoring systems and digital tools. Mr. Olorunfemi explained, that adopting effective M&E framework will improve evidence-based decision-making, accountability and project delivery, and help states tell a clearer, more accurate climate story that can unlock climate finance at the subnational level, where it’s needed most.

Delivering the training, Olorunfemi explained the differences between monitoring and evaluation in project management, emphasizing that monitoring focuses on tracking progress and improving efficiency, while evaluation assesses the effectiveness of policy impacts. He presented a simple M&E framework — inputs, outputs, outcomes and impacts — and used a climate-resilience project as an example to show how actions can translate into measurable change at the subnational level. The workshop also covered practical indicators and quality-management measures to ensure project activities deliver intended results.

The DCC Director, Dr. Iniobong Abiola-Awe, represented by Ms. Dolapo John, in her remark stated that the training was as a result of popular demand from engagement with the subnational officials, adding that the Department of Climate Change is committed to strengthening the capacity of subnational Directors and the Desk Officers.

“Monitoring and Evaluation is a very key issue, because one of the gaps we identified in the second subnational governance ranking was documentation. Most of the states do not have sufficient or efficient means of documenting their activities. That’s why you see states that were up in ranking last year now declined in this year’s ranking.” she said.

Following the second subnational governance ranking, several states across the country are tackling capacity shortfalls and pursuing improvements. This training provides officials with the technical skills required to improve state-level climate governance. This is an initiative of SPP that has received support from the European Climate Foundation (ECF) and it continues with capacity building on Climate Finance in the next phase.