By Bunmi Yekini
Nigeria’s ongoing effort to submit its third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0) before the September 2025 deadline has drawn calls from subnational leaders for a stronger focus on state-level implementation and accessible climate financing.
At the National Validation Workshop on NDC 3.0 held in Abuja on August 27, the Niger State Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, Yakubu Kolo, commended the participatory process but warned that states’ inputs must not be overlooked in the final draft.
“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,” Kolo said.
“But it must go beyond the rituals of collecting input without reflecting them in the final document. As the September submission deadline approaches, NDC 3.0 must align ambition with implementation, setting clear targets that are not just impressive on paper but actionable on the ground.”
Kolo stressed that climate financing should be made “practical and accessible to states”, pointing out that local governments and communities are on the frontline of climate change impacts. “Anything less would betray our people’s yearnings and squander our chance to lead Africa toward a climate-resilient future,” he added.
On his part, Kama Nkemkanma, Chairman of the House Committee on Climate Change and Security, said while the draft NDC 3.0 showed efforts to integrate subnational perspectives, there were gaps in engagement with local legislators who play a crucial role in lawmaking, oversight and appropriation.
“Implementation must be at the subnational, hence subnational legislators have a critical role to play,” he said. “It was a big oversight not to fully engage them in this process.”
Nkemkanma also highlighted the lack of capacity-building for subnational actors as another weakness in the process. “A better way would have been to carry out a proper professionally-led assessment backed by capacity-building sessions. Without this, contributions from subnational leaders might not fully reflect their needs,” he noted.
Despite these concerns, he acknowledged progress made in including recommendations such as ranching, reduction of deforestation, and ending gas flaring, which would directly benefit local communities. He urged that the forthcoming investment strategy for NDC 3.0 must “pay extra attention to core subnational needs and leverage them to unlock vast investments.”
Both leaders emphasised that the new NDC must be ambitious, inclusive, and credible, with clear adaptation measures and financing that translate climate goals from policy papers into real action at the community level.
The workshop was attended by stakeholders from government, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), African Development Bank (AfDB), UNICEF, GIZ, UN Women, ILO, FCDO, civil society groups, youth and disability advocates, and private sector representatives