Nigeria Hosts Forum on Climate Change and Insecurity

Nigeria hosted a high-level regional forum in Abuja, bringing together policymakers, climate experts, and peacebuilding practitioners from across Africa to address the growing link between climate change and insecurity. The forum was opened by Salihu Aminu Usman, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Environment, who warned about the accelerating pace of climate change and its severe global consequences.

He stressed the need for urgent coordinated action to tackle the impacts of climate change, which are manifesting through unprecedented extreme weather conditions. Nigeria remains committed to its global climate obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement, with a pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 47 percent.

The forum also discussed Nigeria's National Adaptation Plan, which incorporates conflict-sensitive approaches linking climate adaptation directly to peacebuilding efforts. Alec Crawford from the International Institute for Sustainable Development noted that climate change is a present reality, particularly in fragile conflict-affected regions, and emphasized the importance of integrating peacebuilding into adaptation strategies.