By Oluwakemi Kindness
The National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) has urged state governments to buy into Nigeria’s emerging carbon market, saying their participation is critical to ensuring carbon projects deliver tangible benefits to local communities.
The Director of Energy, Transportation and Infrastructure at the NCCC, Michael Ivenso, made the call in Abuja on Tuesday at a high-level roundtable on operationalising Nigeria’s carbon market through stronger Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems.
Ivenso said climate change is a global challenge, but climate action is local, urging states to work more closely with the NCCC to identify opportunities, participate in the market and strengthen oversight to ensure its benefits reach communities.
He said Nigeria is developing a digital national carbon registry under which every carbon credit generated, issued, transferred or retired in the country would carry a digital signature to prevent double counting and track its lifecycle.
Ivenso disclosed that Nigeria has already issued about 26 million carbon credits from projects previously executed in the country.
He added that the National Carbon Market Framework provides the regulatory structure for domestic and international carbon trading under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
Ivenso said Nigeria had also developed mechanisms such as letters of no objection and host-country authorisations to ensure carbon credits reflect national interests and are not double-counted. He added that the carbon market had received legal backing under Nigerian law.
EU Backs Credible Market
The Head of Section, Green and Digital Economy, EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms Yolanda San-Jose, said credible MRV systems are essential to building confidence in Nigeria’s carbon market, attracting investment and protecting environmental integrity.
San-Jose said carbon markets could help Nigeria reduce emissions, mobilise climate finance and encourage investment, but required transparent and reliable systems to deliver credible results.
She said Nigeria’s adoption of the National Carbon Market Framework was an important step towards establishing the legal and institutional foundation for domestic and international carbon trading.
San-Jose said the EU is supporting the process through the second phase of the EU Climate Dialogue Programme, including efforts to develop a roadmap for implementing the framework.
Forestry Sector Seeks Stronger MRV
The Director of Forestry, Federal Ministry of Environment, Halima Bawa-Buhari, said forests should remain central to Nigeria’s climate response because they store carbon, regulate temperature and water, protect biodiversity and support the livelihoods of millions of Nigerians.
She cautioned that carbon-market development must support forest conservation rather than create pressure for further forest exploitation, calling for stronger forest inventories, satellite monitoring, remote sensing and appropriate artificial intelligence tools.
Bawa Buhari also urged better coordination between federal and state forestry institutions, saying forest-carbon data must be transparent, traceable and independently verifiable to maintain confidence among investors, governments and communities.
UK Supports MRV Platform
Meanwhile, Folakemi Aletan, UK PACT Officer and Programme Manager at the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), said the UK is supporting Nigeria’s efforts to establish a robust MRV system.
Aletan said UK PACT is working with the NCCC, Federal Ministry of Environment and other stakeholders to develop an MRV platform, strengthen climate transparency, improve emissions reporting and build institutional capacity.
She said the efforts would improve investor confidence and help Nigeria participate effectively in international carbon-market discussions, while commending the EU for bringing development partners together to support the process.
