Nigeria’s climate response is coming under renewed scrutiny, with experts and climate advocates demanding stronger gender-responsive policies and greater accountability in translating international commitments into action on the ground.
The concerns were raised during a webinar organised by the Centre for 21st Century Issues, C21st, which focused on feminist climate justice and the implementation of the Belém Gender Action Plan, a framework adopted through the United Nations climate process to strengthen gender equality and women’s participation in climate action.
The webinar was designed to examine how Nigeria can translate the objectives of the Belém Gender Action Plan into practical action, strengthen women’s participation in climate decision-making, improve access to climate finance and ensure that climate policies respond to the realities of women and girls, particularly those living in rural and climate-vulnerable communities.
It also sought to promote greater accountability in the implementation of Nigeria’s climate commitments, encourage stronger collaboration among government institutions, civil society and grassroots organisations, and explore ways of building the capacity of women and young people to play a more active role in shaping climate solutions.
For participants, international commitments are only meaningful when they produce tangible results in communities. They are therefore calling for climate policies to move beyond national declarations and reach states, local governments and communities, particularly those where women are already bearing the heaviest burden of climate change.
The Special Assistant to the President on Climate Change Matters, Yusuf Olatunji Kelani, highlighted the uneven impact of climate change, particularly on women in coastal and farming communities and households facing limited access to water, food and energy.
The discussion emphasised that climate change is no longer simply an environmental challenge. Its consequences extend into livelihoods, economic security, social justice and human rights, making the inclusion of women in climate decision-making increasingly critical.
Participants also stressed the need to change the way women are positioned within climate policy. Rather than being viewed primarily through the lens of vulnerability, women are increasingly being recognised as farmers, entrepreneurs, scientists, innovators, policymakers and community leaders with the capacity to shape practical climate solutions.
From renewable energy and clean cooking to sustainable agriculture, recycling, waste management, ecosystem restoration and green enterprises, speakers identified significant opportunities for investment in women as part of a broader strategy for building climate resilience.
But investment alone, they noted, will not be enough without accountability.
Advocates are demanding greater transparency over how Nigeria’s climate commitments are being implemented, how resources are allocated, who benefits from climate interventions and whether women and grassroots communities have a meaningful role in determining priorities.
They are also calling for climate policies to be backed by measurable targets, dedicated funding mechanisms and effective monitoring systems capable of tracking progress from government institutions to the communities most exposed to climate risks.
Associate Professor of Law at the University of Bradford, Dr. Padi Obani, provided a broader perspective on the evolution of gender-responsive climate governance.
She explained that the Belém Gender Action Plan builds on several years of international efforts, including the Lima Work Programme on Gender introduced in 2014 and the first Gender Action Plan adopted at COP23 in 2017.
The latest framework places greater emphasis on implementation, covering capacity building, knowledge sharing, gender balance and women’s leadership, policy coherence, gender-responsive implementation and finance, as well as monitoring and reporting.
For Nigeria, the challenge is ensuring that these principles do not remain concentrated within federal institutions or major urban centres.
Obani stressed the importance of bringing state and local governments, community-based organisations, traditional institutions, grassroots groups and women-led organisations into the climate governance process, particularly in areas where climate impacts are most immediate.
She also highlighted the need to prepare a new generation of climate leaders by deliberately equipping young people with the knowledge and skills required to sustain climate action over the long term.
For feminist and environmental geographer Elizabeth Jeiyol, the gender dimension of climate change is impossible to ignore.
Women in rural and low-income communities often face unequal access to land, finance, healthcare, technology, information and decision-making platforms. Climate shocks can deepen these inequalities, with water shortages, food insecurity, flooding, extreme heat, displacement and disrupted livelihoods adding to women’s already significant unpaid domestic and care responsibilities.
The consequences can extend beyond economic hardship, with climate-related disruptions also increasing risks to women and girls, including exposure to gender-based violence.
The webinar therefore called for a deeper assessment of climate vulnerability, one that examines not only who is exposed to climate hazards but also who carries the greatest social and economic burden when access to water, food, livelihoods, education and essential services is disrupted.
Climate finance emerged as another critical piece of the puzzle.
While efforts are underway to strengthen Nigeria’s climate finance architecture, including the operationalisation of the Climate Change Fund, participants warned that resources must reach beyond the national level.
Women-led organisations, community groups and grassroots initiatives working directly with vulnerable populations need greater access to climate funding if national ambitions are to produce meaningful local results.
At the heart of the discussion was a broader demand for accountability.
Nigeria’s climate ambitions, participants argued, should ultimately be measured not by the number of international commitments it makes, but by the difference those commitments make in the daily lives of people facing climate pressures.
As implementation of the Belém Gender Action Plan progresses within the global climate process, the pressure is now on Nigeria to connect its international promises with domestic action through stronger policies, transparent financing, measurable targets and inclusive decision-making.
For women and girls living on the front lines of climate change, the real measure of climate justice will be what happens in their homes, farms and communities.
