Nigeria’s climate action push is entering a new phase as Tenioye Majekodunmi formally assumed office as Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC).
Majekodunmi assumed office at a ceremony held at the Council’s headquarters in Abuja on August 6.
She pledged to “change the game for climate governance” and ensure the country captures a bigger slice of global climate financing.
“Our climate crisis is urgent. The world is moving fast and Nigeria must not be left behind. It is time for us to step boldly into the global arena with a clear identity: We are efficient. We are responsive. We are game changers”, she said.
The climate finance expert and environmental lawyer, appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu last month, takes over as the Council finalizes Nigeria’s first-ever National Climate Finance Strategy.
The strategy is a blueprint designed to mobilise funding from domestic, bilateral, multilateral, and market-based sources.
The strategy also aims to help states and the private sector tap resources from the Green Climate Fund, Global Environment Facility, and other multilateral banks.
Majekodunmi, who previously served as the Council’s Financial Adviser, struck a unifying tone in her maiden address, urging staff to rise above “internal politics” and work as “one team” to meet the urgency of the climate crisis.
Her first official engagement saw her lead a stakeholder review of a Climate Finance Guide for state governments under the UK-funded Partnership for Agile Governance and Climate Engagement (PACE).
“The reality is simple,” she told participants at the Abuja session. “Without climate finance, our ambitions remain just words on paper. But with it, we can build resilient farms, protect coastlines, power homes with clean energy, and secure the future for our children.”
Established in 2022 under the Climate Change Act, the NCCC serves as Nigeria’s official focal point to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and is chaired by the President.
Majekodunmi is its third Director-General and the first to take office with a mandate to deliver a coordinated national climate finance framework.
