Nigeria has called on the international community to scale up global financing for the protection and restoration of nature, urging that such funding be predictable, equitable, and easily accessible to developing countries.
Vice President Kashim Shettima made the appeal on Thursday in Belém, Brazil, while representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at a high-level thematic session titled “Climate and Nature: Forests and Oceans” during the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30).
Shettima warned that the world has for too long treated nature as a commodity to exploit rather than an asset to invest in, stressing that countries of the Global South—those contributing least to climate change—are now paying the highest price for its consequences.
“Through our National Carbon Market Framework and Climate Change Fund, we aim to mobilize up to $3 billion annually in climate finance,” he said. “These resources will be reinvested in community-led reforestation, blue carbon projects, and sustainable agriculture.”
The Vice President called for the operationalization of blue carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, as well as the implementation of debt-for-nature swaps that allow developing nations to channel resources into conservation efforts. He also urged the scaling up of grant-based financing for nature-based solutions.
Shettima emphasized that countries ignoring the protection of forests and oceans “pay dearly for it,” warning that Nigeria faces similar threats from deforestation, desertification, illegal mining, coastal erosion, and rising sea levels. He noted that the Sahara Desert advances by nearly one kilometre each year, displacing communities and worsening conflict.
Highlighting Nigeria’s domestic initiatives, Shettima said the country’s Climate Change Act 2021 legally enshrines nature-based solutions as a state obligation. He outlined ongoing programmes, including the Great Green Wall Initiative, which has so far led to the planting of over 10 million trees across 11 frontline states, creating thousands of green jobs.
Other efforts, he noted, include plans to restore over two million hectares of degraded land by 2030 under the National Afforestation Programme and Forest Landscape Restoration Plan, as well as the launch of the Marine and Blue Economy Policy to promote sustainable fisheries and marine biodiversity.
