Mrs Omotenioye Majekodunmi, Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), has called for stronger carbon verification to enhance the credibility and integrity of Nigeria’s carbon market.
Majekodunmi, who was represented by Mr Michael Ivenso, Director of Energy, Transportation and Infrastructure at the NCCC, made the call at an NCCC/European Union Climate Dialogues High-Level Roundtable on carbon markets in Abuja on Tuesday.
She said Nigeria must turn its climate ambition into tangible, bankable and verifiable action to support sustainable economic growth and attract climate finance.
Majekodunmi noted that Nigeria’s National Carbon Markets Framework had established the institutional and regulatory architecture required to govern carbon activities, including Article 6 cooperation, voluntary markets and national oversight.
She said the NCCC was operationalising a unified national carbon registry while promoting digital Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) through remote sensing, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, geospatial data and distributed ledger technologies to enhance accuracy.
The director-general called for stronger collaboration among government agencies, private developers, financial institutions, development partners, civil society and academia to establish bankable projects and strengthen local verification capacity.
Majekodunmi said priorities included finalising carbon market regulations, publishing sector-specific MRV guidelines and establishing local capacity-building hubs to position Nigeria as a destination for high-integrity carbon investments.
Jop Weterings, Policy Professional and team member at the DG CLIMA’s Task Force on International Carbon Pricing and Markets, European Commission, said the EU had adopted a legally binding target to cut emissions by 40 per cent by 2040.
Weterings said the target includes at least 85 per cent domestic reductions and up to five per cent high-quality international carbon credits under Article 6 from 2036.
He said quality, transparency and robust accounting were essential to scaling carbon markets, and urged stronger methodologies, fair transactions, equitable benefit-sharing and national strategies that protect domestic climate priorities.
Weterings added that EU support for carbon pricing and international markets was increasing, while cooperation with Nigeria offered opportunities to operationalise its framework and strengthen high-integrity markets.
Mrs Halima Bawa-Bwari, Director of Forestry at the Ministry of Environment, urged Nigeria to strengthen forest inventories, monitoring systems, remote sensing, satellite technology and artificial intelligence for carbon monitoring.
Bawa-Bwari said satellite information should complement ground measurements and field verification, while forestry institutions require stronger capacity to collect, manage and utilise reliable data for carbon markets.
She called for coordinated, transparent and independently verifiable forest-carbon data, warning against parallel systems and stressing clear responsibilities, accountability, technical credibility and stakeholder partnership for high-integrity markets.
Ms Yolanda Jose, Head of Green and Digital Economy at the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said credible carbon markets require robust systems that ensure transparency, accountability and environmental integrity.
Jose said Nigeria’s adoption of its National Carbon Markets Framework had established a structured legal and institutional system for domestic and international carbon trading under relevant climate agreements.
She said the EU Climate Dialogues roundtable would help align efforts on operationalising Nigeria’s framework, strengthen MRV practices, mobilise investment and support Nigeria’s low-carbon development pathway.
Mr Huzi Mshelia, Country Facilitator of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Partnership, said robust MRV systems were essential for building trust and investor confidence. He welcomed the dialogue’s convergence of stakeholders to establish common national standards and understanding.
He stressed partnership among the NCCC, Finance, Budget and National Planning institutions to ensure climate actions align with development priorities, while technical support strengthens Nigeria’s MRV system globally.
