The Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP) has urged Nigeria to strengthen and enforce building codes to enhance climate resilience, as global climate talks at COP 30 highlight rising emissions and risks.
Ms. Ifeoma Adenusi, a climate activist with SPP, made the call in a statement on Tuesday amid ongoing negotiations at COP 30 in Brazil.
Adenusi said Nigeria faces growing vulnerability as severe floods, heatwaves, and infrastructure failures intensify, demanding urgent action to integrate resilience into construction practices nationwide.
She noted that buildings contribute significantly to global emissions, adding that Nigeria’s cement sector alone emits over 11 million tonnes annually, worsening national climate risks and placing additional pressure on rapidly growing cities.
Adenusi highlighted Nigeria’s 24-million-unit housing deficit and the prevalence of substandard structures, which have fueled widespread informal construction. She warned that such practices often ignore climate resilience, exposing millions to flooding, heat stress, and other hazards.
She recalled major disasters, including the 2012 floods that displaced 2.1 million people and the 2018 floods that affected hundreds of thousands, cautioning that worsening climate impacts threaten national development and stability.
Adenusi said Nigeria’s climate policies, including the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), Climate Change Act, and building codes, remain weakly enforced. She added that this has created a gap between national commitments and practical implementation across states.
She identified corruption, bureaucratic delays, and weak institutional capacity as major obstacles, noting that complex permitting processes encourage bribery and informal construction, thereby undermining compliance and increasing safety risks nationwide.
According to Adenusi, enforcement remains largely reactive, often triggered only after building failures or public outcry. She stressed that Nigeria’s challenges reflect governance shortcomings that require systemic reform across regulatory and professional institutions.
She highlighted Kenya’s updated building code and India’s tiered sustainable building standards as successful models, noting that these approaches demonstrate how mandatory resilience requirements and market-driven incentives can improve compliance and promote greener construction.
Adenusi urged Nigeria to integrate climate resilience into the National Building Code, including standards for energy efficiency, water management, flood protection, and embodied carbon reduction, alongside inclusive design for residents.
She also called for streamlined permitting, improved agency coordination, transparent digital systems, and mandatory training for building officials to curb corruption, enhance accountability, and strengthen enforcement at both federal and state levels.
Adenusi said Nigeria’s 24-million-unit housing demand presents a transformational opportunity to build safer, climate-resilient structures, warning that failure to act now would increase future costs and threaten long-term national stability.
