Nigeria’s First Biannual Update Report (BUR1) to UNFCCC confirmed the country’s commitment to Nigeria’s 2015 Paris Agreement pledge. The Report highlights data from Nigeria’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory that covers energy, industrial process and product use(IPPU), agriculture, forest and other land use and waste sectors, information on mitigation actions, effects, the monitoring, reporting, and verification system, constraints and gaps as well as support received and needed.

Data from the Report indicates that greenhouse gas emissions were primarily from the land-use change and forestry (LUCF) sector as well as the energy sector which accounted for 38.2 percent and 32.6 percent of the country’s total emissions, respectively. Waste, agriculture, and industrial processes (IP) contributed 14.0 percent, 13.0 percent, and 2.1 percent of total emissions each. Within LUCF, emissions were almost entirely from degradation and loss of forest land. Nigeria’s First Biennial Update Report (BUR1) to the UNFCCC, submitted in 2018, includes a GHG inventory for the years 2000 to 2015, which shows that in 2015, the combined emissions from agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) were the leading source of GHG emissions (66.9 percent), followed by energy (28.2 percent), waste (3.0 percent) and industrial processes and product use (IPPU) (1.9 percent).

Nigeria’s greenhouse gas emissions increased by 25 percent (98.22 MtCO2e) from 1990 to 2014. The average annual change in total emissions was 1 percent. There are changes in emissions from Nigeria’s two most significant greenhouse gas emissions sources- Land-use change and Forestry(LUCF) and energy sector: In its Biennial Update Report (BUR), Nigeria notes that the country is well endowed with forest resources, but excessive exploitation is a threat to sustainable socio-economic development.

The country’s Biennial Report contains practical information and data regarding the level of greenhouse gas emissions in Nigeria. Hopefully, the government of Nigeria will put in place the policies needed to reach its ambitious emission reduction target. Nigeria’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report also has excellent data and information related to emission levels, but the Report is in need of updating.

Dear Sir,

This is to give credit to these agencies for a job well done. The Biennial Report and Greenhouse Gas Inventory documents are useful. However, the Greenhouse Gas Inventory would be better if it were more current. The last update was in 2015. Let a new 2019 Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report mark the beginning of a new phase of action. This time the Report should be made readily available to all stakeholders in order to give a better picture of the level of Nigeria’s emissions.

Send Action Alert Message to:

Dr. Yerimah Peter Tarfa

The Acting Director,

UNFCCC Focal Point, Nigeria

Department of Climate Change;

Ministry of Environment,

Mabushi, Abuja

Email: petertarfar@hotmail.com

Learn More:

• https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/Nigeriapercent20BUR1_Finalpercent20percent282percent29.pdf
• USAID-Nigeria emissions fact sheets- https://www.climatelinks.org/sites/default/files/asset/document/2019_USAID_Nigeriapercent20GHGpercent20Emissionspercent20Factsheet.pdf
• Vanguard Newspaper: htpps://vangaurdngr.com/2019/04/senate-passes-bill-prohibtion-gas-flaring/