By Chuks Oyema-Aziken
Nigeria has reaffirmed its commitment to developing a credible and transparent carbon market capable of attracting climate finance and supporting sustainable economic development.
This was disclosed at a High-Level Roundtable on Operationalising Nigeria’s Carbon Markets through Robust Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV), held in Abuja on Tuesday, under the European Union Climate Dialogues Programme.
Speaking on behalf of the Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), Mrs. Omotenioye Majekodunmi, the Director of Energy, Transportation and Infrastructure, Michael Ivenso, said Nigeria was determined to turn its climate ambitions into tangible and bankable investments.
Ivenso said climate action under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration was being viewed as an economic opportunity, particularly in clean energy, agriculture, forestry, waste management and clean technology.
He said carbon markets could provide an important avenue for mobilising private capital, but stressed that their credibility would depend on reliable data, transparency and effective verification.
According to him, Nigeria would not accommodate carbon markets that encourage greenwashing, insisting that carbon projects must deliver real, additional and permanent emissions reductions.
He identified the National Carbon Markets Framework as a major step towards establishing a structured regulatory and institutional system for carbon-market activities in Nigeria.
Ivenso said the NCCC was also working towards an integrated national carbon registry that would track carbon credits generated, issued, transferred and retired in the country, thereby helping to prevent double counting.
He added that Nigeria was promoting digital MRV through remote sensing, geospatial information, IoT sensors and other technologies to improve accuracy and reduce verification costs.
Representing the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms. Yolanda San Jose said the roundtable was coming at an important time as countries increasingly sought practical ways to translate climate ambitions into action.
She said carbon markets were becoming important instruments for supporting emissions reduction, mobilising finance and encouraging investment, but stressed that they must be supported by credible systems that guarantee transparency, accountability and environmental integrity.
San Jose commended Nigeria for adopting its National Carbon Markets Framework, describing it as an important foundation for confidence, trust and effectiveness in the country’s emerging carbon market system.
She said the framework would help align Nigeria’s climate targets with its broader development priorities while creating an enabling environment for investment in a low-carbon economy.
She explained that the EU Climate Dialogues programme was supporting discussions aimed at aligning stakeholders around the framework and developing a practical roadmap for its implementation, with MRV serving as a critical pillar.
Also speaking, Director of Forestry at the Federal Ministry of Environment, Halima Bawa-Bwari, stressed the importance of forests to Nigeria’s climate response, calling for stronger forest monitoring, satellite technology, ground verification and institutional capacity to ensure a high-integrity carbon market.
