Navigating Climate Change and Sustainability Solutions: Nigeria's Role in International Environmental Law

Ikisiri

Over the past three decades, the world has witnessed multidimensional impacts of climate change, thus emphasizing the critical urgency for climate action, and promoting sustainability. Africa is reported to disproportionately suffer the consequences of climate change. These consequences such as flooding; droughts and rising temperatures require the adoption of an environmental foreign policy to foster environmental sustainability and cross-sectoral climate resilience. As Africa’s most populous nation and second-largest oil producer significant to global oil supply, Nigeria occupies a unique and distinct position in the global climate discourse. However, despite credibly being a signatory to international bodies such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Nigeria needs an effective environmental foreign policy to attain the globally desired sustainability and climate resilience. Therefore, this paper delves into Nigeria’s commitment to international environmental law of key international agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, in response to the threatening climate change crisis. The paper recognizes Nigeria as a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Africa, driving it to develop some national environmental policies that support renewable energy production and sustainability. However, most of the policies seem ineffective. This is because the country needs help with challenges ranging from political interference, corruption, unrealistic emission targets, overreliance on fossil fuels, and other socioeconomic factors. The study highlights the potential of Nigeria, the giant of Africa, in leading regional climate negotiations by localizing international environmental foreign policy and developing a strengthened legal framework to guide the African continent to sustainable development. The perspective of this paper is to encourage Nigeria to meet its sustainability objectives while fulfilling its international environmental obligations by exploring its abundant renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, and hydropower