Stakeholders have called for inclusive, accountable, and evidence-based climate governance to tackle Nigeria's escalating climate crisis, as the Gender-Inclusive Climate Change Governance (GENCGOV) International Conference 2026 ended in Abuja.
The two-day conference, held from June 23 to 24, 2026, at the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja, convened policymakers, academics, climate governance experts, development partners, civil society leaders, youth networks, and the media under the theme: ‘Governing Climate in an Age of Retreat, Risk and Geopolitical Re-alignment.’
Funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Future Leaders Fellowship (FLF), GENCGOV is a global research initiative led by Dr Pedi Obani, Associate Professor at the University of Bradford and GENCGOV Global Research Lead.
The project seeks to strengthen gender-responsive approaches to climate governance across Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.
High-profile participants at the conference included Yusuf O. Kelani, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Climate Change Matters; Prof. Abdullahi Yusuf Ribadu, Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC); Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, SAN, Director of the Environmental Law Research Institute (ELRI); Prof. Abdulqadir Ibrahim Abikan, Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS); Dr Juliana Stoyanova of the British High Commission; and Engr. Umar A. Umar, Executive Director, Technical Services, Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
Officials from the Federal Ministries of Women Affairs, Environment, Regional Development, and Agriculture and Food Security were also in attendance.
In her address, the convener, Dr Pedi Obani, stressed that effective climate solutions must be locally grounded and collectively owned.
“Climate injustice is not confined by borders. But the solutions that work must be grounded in the realities of each country, each community, and each institutional context,” she said.
“Climate governance is strongest when it is shared,” Obani added.
In his welcome address, Kelani warned that climate change is no longer a distant threat.
“Climate change is no longer a future challenge; it is a present reality. No single institution can solve the climate change problem. Success requires collaboration,” he said, citing flooding, desertification, food insecurity, and migration as immediate impacts in Nigeria.
A major highlight of the GENCGOV Conference 2026 was the presentation of Nigeria's first National Household Survey on Climate Change with a dedicated gender dimension, implemented by GENCGOV in partnership with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The survey provided new insights into how climate change affects households across Nigeria's climatic zones, revealing significant gender gaps in climate vulnerability, adaptation, and resilience.
Participants stressed the need for gender-disaggregated data to inform equitable policymaking.
Panel sessions on climate finance and accountability called for greater transparency, stronger monitoring mechanisms, and improved access to climate finance for vulnerable groups. Delegates also examined the role of the media, indigenous knowledge systems, and community-led adaptation in strengthening climate resilience.
Day Two featured over 30 research presentations, both physical and virtual, on climate finance, governance legitimacy, climate law, energy transition, climate displacement, climate-smart agriculture, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and youth inclusion.
International scholars, including Prof. Joyeeta Gupta of the University of Amsterdam and Prof. Patricia Mbote, Director of the Law Division at UNEP, contributed to the dialogues.
The conference honoured distinguished speakers and partners with commemorative plaques for leadership in climate governance.
Three grants were also awarded to advance climate justice: Lighthope Succour Worldwide Initiative and Town Crier Initiative each received N1 million under the GENCGOV Climate and Gender Justice Toolkit Adoption Grant, while Baze University received a N750,000 Climate Justice Fellowship Grant for research and capacity building.
Participants concluded with a collective call for stronger collaboration among government, universities, development partners, civil society, the private sector, and local communities to move from dialogue to action.
“A conference becomes meaningful when it changes what people do after they leave,” Dr Obani noted at the close.
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