Society, ministry to launch subnational climate governance performance
The Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP), in collaboration with the Department of Climate Change (DCC), Federal Ministry of Environment (FMOE) will launch the rating and ranking of the climate governance performance of Nigeria’s 36 states in July.
This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Wole Adegbule, Senior Policy Analyst of SPP, made available in Lagos state.
The statement quoted Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke, President, SPP, as saying that the project builds on the mapping of the climate change impact, policy, and action of the states, which was executed by the team last year in collaboration with the DCC and the Nigeria Governors Forum.
Okereke said the current project would provide a single rating and ranking report of the performance of the 36 states of Nigeria.
He said the rating and ranking were done based on five governance criteria, namely, climate change governance administrative structure, and the presence or absence of climate policy and action plan.
He listed others as; extent of climate change project implementation; extent of incorporation of climate finance in state budgets; and online visibility of state’ climate activities.
According to him, the ranking and rating exercise is based on the responses provided by the states commissioners, permanent secretaries, and climate desk officers across the 36 states and extensive independent verification done by the research team and the Department of Climate Change staff.
He expressed confidence that the rating and ranking exercise would raise awareness of climate in the states.
He added that it would create an atmosphere of positive competition and a race to the top among the states.
Okereke stated that the states with the highest ranking scores would be recognized during the report’s launch, expected to be held in the last week of July.
The statement also quoted Mahmud Adam Kambari, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, as expressing delight at the official launch of the Subnational Coordination Meeting on Climate Change.
Kambari noted that climate change is a major emergency and one of the most pressing issues in the country.
He said that the conference would strengthen the synergy between national and subnational actors in order to achieve better climate governance in the country in line with the Transformative Agenda of the President.
He described subnational climate change officers as key personnel in the fight against climate change, given their role in translating global climate goals into concrete actions and policies that resonate at the local level.
The statement quoted Dr Iniobong Abiola-Awe, the Director of the Department of Climate Change, as saying that the initiative would help in tackling climate change challenges.
Abiola-Awe listed the objectives to include, improving collaboration and knowledge sharing among Subnational Climate Change Desk Officers, promoting effective climate change action at the subnational level, and targeted training and capacity building of the desk officers.
She urged climate change desk officers to be responsive and on time at all meetings, as they were expected to attend and offer updates on climate change initiatives, successes, problems, and lessons learned in their respective regions during the monthly sessions.
NAN / Foluke Ibitomi
