Nigeria calls for more adaptation financing as COP29 climate talks begin

As the United Nations climate talks kick off in Baku – Azerbaijan, Nigeria has called for more global adaptation funding to help vulnerable countries deal with increased threats from climate change.

The country also called for full adherence to the Paris Climate Agreement pact of 2015 by all parties.

“There is a need to put adaptation at the forefront. We cannot remain where we are to make those pledges. We need to put our money where our mouth is,” Nkiruka Madueke, director-general of the National Council on Climate Change, told BusinessDay at the sidelines of the ongoing climate change conference.

Read also: Five major talking points at COP29 climate summit

“And that is what is so clear from the opening plenary. We need to come to a collective understanding of increasing finance for climate actions,” she said.

“We are hoping to leave this COP with a clear line on article 6 and more finance for adaptation,” she added.

Africa’s most populous nation is looking to the United Nations climate conference with a sense of urgency, reflecting the country’s deteriorating climate crisis.

Despite some advances made on climate finance at COP28 – particularly with the Loss and Damage Fund, the long-standing commitment of a $100 billion annual climate finance to support vulnerable countries is still unmet.

This is deeply concerning given the geo-environmental condition of Nigeria, which is already suffering from annual flooding, droughts and sea level rise.

For Nigeria, these recurring annual floods lead to not only climate-induced displacement but also long-term economic losses, as people lose livelihoods, homes and access to clean water.

“Adaptation is crucial and we are dealing with communities that are already highly sensitive and exposed to little things that will make them highly vulnerable to climate change,” Madueke said.

“For instance, communities dealing with droughts, environment degradation, lack access to water, sanitation and you pour in climate impacts. What you have is an explosion,” she explained.

Citing an example of the recent flooding in Maiduguri, Borno State, she stressed the need for resilience, noting that adaptation is crucial to building resilience.

“You need to build resilience of these people and what do you have to build resilience, it is adaptation. Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly and ensure that the impacts do not take them back to zero.”

As the climate talks continue, Nigeria hopes the newly proposed New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) will deliver the necessary financial resources to tackle its climate adaptation needs.

The NCQG aims to supersede the $100 billion pledge, but there is growing concern that the money will not arrive quickly or in sufficient capacities.

Read also: COP29: HOMEF calls for bold climate action and reforms

“We want to leave this COP with more financial commitments. Africa is asking for more funding and advocating for the NCQG and we stand with them on that.”

At the opening plenary, Simon Stiell, executive secretary at the UN Climate Change said countries are in Baku to agree on a new global climate finance goal, noting that if at least two-thirds of the world’s nations are unable to cut emissions quickly, then every nation pays a brutal price.

“If nations can’t build resilience into supply chains, the entire global economy will be brought to its knees. No country is immune,” he said.

“So, let’s dispense with any idea that climate finance is charity. An ambitious new climate finance goal is entirely in the self-interest of every nation, including the largest and wealthiest.”