Paris Agreement Implementation in Nigeria: Compliance Level, Constraints and Possible Ways Forward

Abstract

Nigeria has traditionally been an active participant within the United Nations (UN) systems and ideals enshrined in their conventions and treaties by being a signatory to various environmental treaties and conventions notably the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Nigeria signed the Kyoto Protocol and more recently the Paris Agreement on climate change alongside other 140 countries in December 2015 to mitigate the effects of global warming caused by the uncontrolled emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). Nigeria is seriously impacted by climate change with consequences that includes vulnerability to drought, famine, flooding due to variability or change in rainfall pattern especially in the humid south and decreased rainfall in the savana region, soil erosion, sea level rise causing coastal areas to be submerged, declining surface and subsurface water etc Nigeria being a signatory to the Paris Agreement says she is committed to reducing GHG emissions by 20%  relative to a business as usual (BAU) of economic an emissions growth by 2030. As much as her good intentions abound, there are obvious constraints to the implementation of the Paris Accord and these include; institutional deficiencies and failure, ambiguos environmental legislation and laws, lack of policy framework, paucity of fund, fear of revenue loss from oil, lack of political will to diversify the economy, climate change has not been integrated into the development plan, paucity of GHG emission data etc.