A REVIEW OF THE NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS MECHANISM TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN NIGERIA UNDER THE CLIMATE CHANGE ACT 2021

Abstract

Prior to the passage of the Climate Change Act, 2021, Nigeria had participated in climate negotiations and ratified some international legal instruments on climate change notably; the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, (UN FCCC) the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity (UNCBD) etc. Nigeria had during the period relied mainly on the sectoral approach and the formulation of policies like; the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) to the treaties. With the passage of the Climate Change Act,2021as the primary statutory frame work for Nigeria’s energy transition, it has joined other developed counties like Sweden, France, New Zealand, among others to provide the legal framework for the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to pre-industrial levels of 1.5oc. One of the obligations under the Act, is the adoption of Nature- Based Solutions (NBS) to achieve GHGs reduction commitments to promote adaption and mitigation to climate change. The nature based approach has two basic obligations; the establishment of registry with sub national nodes to capture forestry activities in Nigeria, including update on Forest Reference Emission Level (FREL), and then collaborate with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to develop Nigeria’s Natural Capital Account (NNCA). The aim of the NBS is the reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation coupled with the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks, which is referred to as REDD+. It was discovered that for the effective implementation of REDD+ in Nigeria under the Climate Change Act, 2021, there was the need to impose obligations on public and private entities to promote low carbon economy and sustainable livelihood and provide incentives to forest dependent communities. It is recommended that legal actions should lie against the state for failure or inability to implement the Act, in line with the African Charter on Human and People’s Right, which recognize environmental protection as a basic human right and the land tenure rights of forest dependent people and an effective gas utilisation plan should be implemented to reduce the effect of gas flaring as climate change posed a serious threat to the Nigerian and global environment.