COP29: Enhancing Nigeria’s climate finance transparency to attract funding, By Hamzat LawalFloodwaters of Famine: Maiduguri deluge exacerbates Nigeria’s food crisisIreti Kingibe’s claims on first-year constituency projects in FCT had more flaws than factsAll Roar and No Bite: Exposing Nigeria’s Paper Tiger Election LawsCOP29: Enhancing Nigeria’s climate finance transparency to attract funding, By Hamzat LawalOn 11 November, Nigeria will join representatives from nearly 200 countries in Baku,...
But clearly, nothing significant was done with the disbursed money despite reports of the dam needing rehabilitation. This is just solely on utilising local resources for environmental issues in the country, let alone international climate finance. There is always opacity in government spending in Nigeria where the government intentionally seeks to gatekeeper information around budgeting, disbursement and if the monies were utilised appropriately.
However, the positive side is that we can establish key measures to create a system of transparency and accountability in climate finance. One of the most basic but critical measures Nigeria can take is to establish clear and comprehensive reporting mechanisms that align with international standards for climate finance.
Furthermore, the government needs to ensure that there is a plug-in for civil society organisations to focus on monitoring and evaluation of climate finance and key projects while galvanising citizens to take an interest in them. CSOs play a crucial role in holding governments accountable and as such, require access to information and monitor the use of funds at both the national and subnational levels.
Transparency is a fundamental principle for ensuring accountability in the allocation and use of climate finance. Without robust transparency mechanisms, funds could be diverted or misused, which undermines the goals of international climate finance initiatives. To ensure there is trust in how climate finance is utilised, Nigeria needs to establish a system that promotes checks and balances at each aspect of the process.