Environmental Policy and Climate Change in Nigeria: Bridging the Gap between Challenges and Reality
Pius Akindele Adeniyi *
Federal Ministry of Environment, Federal Department of Forestry, Ado – Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This study reviews the state of play of on-going Nigeria’s environmental policy and pinpoints key issues for Nigeria in the area of environmental and climate policies. In addition to traditional themes that require urgent actions (biodiversity, forestry, land use, water, agriculture), special attention is paid to emerging cross-cutting issues (circular economy, sustainability, eco-innovation). Nigeria efforts in addressing climate change are reviewed, highlighting specific implementation challenges and their relevance for international climate policy. It is believed that if these policy strategies are followed judiciously, they will facilitate sustainable environment in many places and thus reduce pressure on the natural resources. The natural resources with less human interference coupled with good and sustainable management practices and policy, will therefore regenerate naturally and may attain stability, thus helping to reduce the effect of climate change.
Keywords: Environment, policy, climate changes, natural resources, sustainability