COP30: Nigeria advocates new mechanisms to safeguard forests, oceans

The Federal Government of Nigeria has reiterated the need for new mechanisms to safeguard forests and oceans.

This is coming amidst the growing environmental threat to forests and oceans. Forests are home to most of the world’s biodiversity on land. More than 3 billion people, 75% of all people outside urban areas, live within 1 kilometer of a forest.

Moreover, about one-third of the world’s population has a close dependence on forests and forest products.

Similarly, ocean water and ice make up almost 98 percent of all the water on Earth. The oceans are home to innumerable species that we are now only beginning to discover.

Notably, their importance to man, the diversity of wildlife that inhabit these waters, and some important conservation issues, are truly immense.

Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima made the observation at the on-going 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Dubbed COP30 for short, this year’s conference is being held in Belém, Brazil, known as the “gateway” to the Amazon rainforest, and is taking place 10 years after the landmark Paris Agreement was adopted by 195 countries during COP21 in December 2015.

The COPs are annual meetings where countries, non-governmental organizations and other interested parties discuss global efforts to combat human-induced climate change and negotiate agreements on topics, such as mitigation, financing and adaptation.

Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu at a high-level thematic session entitled, “Climate and Nature: Forests and Oceans,” on the margins of COP30, argued that forests, oceans, and landscapes should be viewed not as commodities for exploitation but as essential “critical infrastructure” and assets for sustainable development that require collective global responsibility and investment.

“What Africa is asking for is equitable access to the carbon market to enable countries to restore forest and ocean resources,” he said.

He stressed that nations must deliver on their existing climate commitments and climate finance pledges, moving beyond mere rhetoric to concrete action.

He also called for a significant increase in financial support for developing nations to help them tackle climate change impacts, highlighting the need for predictable, equitable, and accessible funding mechanisms.

The Vice President equally reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to the global climate agenda and a green transition. On the sidelines of the summit, he held meetings aimed at unlocking between $2.5 billion and $3 billion annually in carbon finance for Nigeria over the next decade.

Shettima observed that every fraction of a degree in global warming means more hunger and displacement, especially for those least responsible for the crisis, underscoring the urgency of collective effort.

He highlighted Nigeria’s leadership in the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall (PAGGW) as a critical “emergency rescue operation” against desertification and land degradation.

Who says what

While speaking during thematic session on forests and oceans at the conference, African Development Bank Group President Sidi Ould Tah, noted that Africa’s ecosystems are not just natural assets but vital climate regulators.

“The Congo Basin is a compelling example — it holds the world’s largest tropical peatlands, storing about 29 billion tons of carbon, equivalent to three years of global emissions,” he said.

He also noted that the Bank’s climate strategy, guided by its Four Cardinal Points, which focus on mobilising capital for green growth, promoting debt-for-nature swaps, empowering women and youth in environmental protection, and investing in resilient, nature-friendly infrastructure.

He further reaffirmed the institution’s commitment to transforming “promises into progress,” highlighting its status as the first multilateral development institution to achieve financing parity between climate adaptation and mitigation.

“We are all gathered here, driven by our collective responsibility to protect nature, our most precious asset in combating climate change and ensuring humanity’s survival,” he stressed.