Amid the clamor for a just transition to cleaner energy sources, Nigeria has joined other countries across the world to roll out policies, processes and mechanisms for realizing this objective. Nigeria’s commitment towards carbon neutrality was formally announced at COP26, followed by the unveiling of its Energy Transition Plan (ETP) in August 2022, highlighting the action plans toward achieving the 2060 net-zero target. Other related policy actions—such as the National Climate Change Policy, Nigeria’s 2050 Low Emission Vision and the passage of Nigeria’s Climate Change Act 2021—further demonstrate the country’s ambition to attain a net-zero status between 2050 and 2070. These frameworks, together with the ETP, seek to mainstream climate justice into national development priorities and accelerate the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy, leveraging natural gas as a transition fuel driving Nigeria’s path to net-zero.
To what extent do these national plans incorporate the needs and aspirations of marginalized groups potentially impacted by energy transition? Incorporating the outcomes of stakeholder consultations and the lessons learned from diverse advocacy initiatives focusing on climate justice, this paper—prepared under the Just Transitions Learning Project (JTLP)—examines the strengths and gaps within existing interventions and proffers recommendations for addressing the shortcomings and for deepening inclusion in the transition agenda. By outlining the lessons learned about what has worked and what hasn’t worked, this policy brief highlights the opportunities that exist for stepping up engagement with stakeholders, especially affected local people in national decarbonization efforts.
