A respected subnational climate change leader and conservation champion, Yakubu Kolo, has provided reflections on Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0) and how states hold a central role in both design and implementation, calling for access to finance for states.
He made this call at the National Stakeholders’ NDC 3.0 validation workshop organised by the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) to present update of Nigeria’s NDCs in preparation for the National Executive’s approval and eventual submission to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), held in-person and online on August 27, 2025, with stakeholders from across multiple sectors in attendance.
The Nigerian NDC 3.0 provides a comprehensive update to the 2021 submission, developed through a rigorous whole-of-government and whole-of-society process to ensure the needs of a broad range of stakeholders were addressed.
Kolo, Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, Niger State, while speaking at the validation workshop, acknowledged that the process of developing NDC 3.0 has shown committed efforts to course-correct and be inclusive, participatory, and people-centered.
“State governments were given the opportunity to provide input which we gladly participated in. We therefore hold the process in high esteem to reflect clarity and transparency in its targets, policies and measures and on cross-cutting issues and actions and it must therefore go beyond the rituals of getting input without an ounce of them reflected in the final document,” he said.
Kolo noted that the Nigerian NDC 3.0 must set clear ambition that reflects leadership, embed stronger adaptation strategies, and ensure financing is both practical and accessible to states.
He stated further: “As the September submission deadline approaches, it must also align ambition with implementation, setting clear targets that are not just impressive on paper but actionable on the ground.”
While concluding his speech as the representative of the subnational governments, Kolo affirmed that the NDC must be ambitious, inclusive, and credible, and must reflect the important contributions of the subnational as the burden bearer of climate change vulnerabilities.
“Anything less would betray our people’s yearnings and squander our chance to lead Africa toward a climate-resilient future,” he concluded.
The NDC validation workshop convened stakeholders from across the country as part of the process to finalise Nigeria’s NDC 3.0 before submitting to the UNFCCC. The workshop had representatives from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Africa Development Bank (AfDB), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Youth Constituency, German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), United Nation Women, Global Disability Green Initiatives (GDGI), International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), as well as NGOs/CSOs.
By Ugochukwu Uzuegbu, Communication Specialist, SPP