Advocating for an Environmental Sustainability Stance to Climate Change Governance in Nigeria

Ishola, Oluwademilade O. (2020) Advocating for an Environmental Sustainability Stance to Climate Change Governance in Nigeria. Doctoral thesis, University of Buckingham.

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Abstract

Climate change is arguably the biggest threat to human existence. This global problem has the potential to make our home, earth, uninhabitable. Signs of this being a growing reality is evidenced by more frequent extreme weather changes, increased environmental disasters, more outbreaks of diseases and a growing general degeneration of the environment. Scientific findings have established a link between human activities such as industrialisation; extraction of natural resources; deforestation; and mechanisation, with increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This has in turn propelled the problem of climate change. The global community, understanding the magnitude of the climate change problem, has seen the need to institute governance instruments advocating for the adoption of environmentally friendly steps aimed at reducing the global level of emissions. States like the UK and Kenya, understanding the need for all countries to take national action to give humanity a fighting chance, have adopted an environmental sustainability stance to governing climate change. This has come in form of enacting laws, passing policies and taking stringent legal action, within their respective territories, which prioritise environmental protection. This approach is however not universally subscribed to by countries like Nigeria. With widespread poverty and high levels of underdevelopment, Nigeria has prioritised an economic centred stance over an approach that focuses on environmental protection. The country also has a mono-economic system wherein political, economic and general governance decisions are carried out with the mind of safeguarding the oil and gas sector. This has led to the subpar governance of climate change within Nigeria. This thesis, aligning with the view that professes the need for all States to partake in the governance of climate change, seeks to advocate an environmental sustainability approach to climate change governance for Nigeria. This will be done mindful of the factors potentially hindering Nigeria from adopting this stance, like the country’s reliance on oil and gas, which is a high emitter of greenhouse gases. Lessons will be drawn from the governance steps taken by the UK and Kenya to govern climate change nationally through the adoption of an environmental sustainability approach.

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