Nigeria has released a report that will serve as a road-map for integrating conflict-sensitivity and peacebuilding into the nation’s ongoing National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process.
The report, titled “Integrating Conflict Sensitivity and Peacebuilding into Nigeria’s National Adaptation Plan Process,” was unveiled on Thursday, August 28, 2025, during a capacity-building workshop organised by the Department of Climate Change (DCC) under the Federal Ministry of Environment in Abuja. It gave a summary of the connection between conflict and climate change and offered some suggestions on how to best accomplish this objective.
Globally, the effects of climate change are increasing, and Nigeria is no exception. The director in charge of the DCC, Dr. Iniobong Abiola-Awe, hinted that these effects, which include climate variability and extreme weather events, are having a major impact on key sectors and endangering national security.
“While efforts are underway to mitigate the effects of climate change, the need for adaptation is also very important,” the DCC director, who was represented by Mr. Jonah Barde, noted.
According to her, this will help the country adapt its operations and systems to these changes without interfering with Nigerians’ daily activities and lifestyles.
Therefore, she is optimistic that the ongoing development of the nation’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP), which aims to identify medium- to long-term adaptation needs, will facilitate the creation and implementation of strategies and programmes to address these needs in a participatory and fully transparent manner.
In closing, Dr. Abiola-Awe thanked the National Adaptation Plan Global Network for its ongoing support to Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Environment and encouraged the participants – who are drawn from the various ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) – to contribute significantly to the training materials that will be developed.
Similarly, Adam Kambari, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Environment, emphasised that, despite its importance in solving the climate catastrophe, mitigation receives more attention than adaptation.
According to the PS, who was represented by Mrs. Victoria Pwol, a director with the DCC, conflicts such as the farmer-herder crisis, cattle rustling, and banditry, which are currently threatening the security of the country, can be linked to climate change. So, he believes it would be a mistake to overlook medium- and long-term adaptation needs in these peacebuilding contexts in the formulation of the country’s NAP process.
“Adapting to climate change means taking action to prepare for and adjust to both the current effects of climate change and the predicted impacts in the future,” he stated.
He went on to say that to accomplish this, strategies for conflict-sensitive adaptation planning and programming must be developed that understand the local conflict dynamics associated with climate change and use that understanding to address such dynamics, combat climatic vulnerabilities, and promote peace.
Consequently, he submitted that it is essential that relevant stakeholders from MDAs should have their capacities built on integrating conflict sensitivity and peacebuilding issues into their adaptation planning initiatives.
“Hence, this inception workshop focuses on climate-sensitive adaptation planning. Stakeholders are expected to gain insight into the importance of ensuring that their development planning activities are sensitive to potential conflicts,” Kambari asserts.
By Etta Michael Bisong, Abuja