LocationsBy: Varsha Redkar - Palepu, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative - Programme
Nigeria Unveils its NDC Climate Action 3.0 at UNGA: The Real Work Begins
October 15, 2025
Aerial view of Benue, Nigeria
Rejoice Emmanuel
As the curtain falls on the historic 75th United Nations General Assembly - markingUN@80 and UNDP@60 – it was inspiring to see Nigeria seize the global stage to unveil its 3rd Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0) update. This landmark announcement made during the Climate Ambition Summit in New York by Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima, GCON signaled new era of climate ambition and accountability for Africa’s most populous nation. Undoubtedly, this was a bold audacious reaffirmation by Nigeria to its long-held tradition as a champion for multilateralism and the rule-based system of international environmental governance.
As the dust settles on this year’s UNGA, I find it fitting to reflect on the profound significant aspects in Nigeria’s NDC 3.0 announcement.
First, Nigeria’s NDC 3.0 is more than just a technical document submitted to comply with the obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. It is a bold statement of intent, and an unambiguous commitment to align the country’s future development with increased climate action, as the government works to re-position Africa’s largest economy under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Second, by unveiling this commitment at UNGA, Nigeria has joined a global movement of over 100 countries that are committing to raise their ambition to align with the critical 1.5∘C global warming limit. This is a refreshing development – as it also coincides with the ongoing development of the National Development Plan framework for the Renewed Hope Development Plan (2026–2030). This plan aims to consolidate Nigeria’s reform agenda and actualize its ambitious $1 trillion economy agenda.
Third, while Nigeria contributes less than 1% of global emissions, it remains among the nation’s most vulnerable to climate shocks. By advancing the ambitious update, Nigeria has sent a powerful global signal, one that embodies fairness, solidarity and leadership. It reflects Africa’s growing voice in shaping the global climate agenda.
Finally, with support from UNDP and other partners - Nigeria’s NDC 3.0 is one of the most inclusive national climate plans in Africa as more than 50,000 Nigerians - from civil society to academia, from women and youth groups to all 36 state governments in the Federation – were actively engaged in its formulation. This broad-based participation reinforces that climate action is not the task of a few, but a collective national undertaking.
Unpacking Some Key NDC 3.0 Insights
More substantively, the NDC 3.0 has scored several firsts. Under this NDC 3.0, Nigeria has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 29% by 2030 and 32% by 2035, relative to 2018 levels, setting the nation firmly on course to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060. These targets are anchored in practical, transformative measures – such as phasing out routine gas flaring by 2030, ensuring that half of the national power mix comes from renewables by 2030, and rolling out electric mobility so that by 2035 nearly one in three vehicles on Nigeria’s roads will be electric.
Beyond energy and transport, Nigeria’s NDC 3.0 also pledges to reduce deforestation by 60%, plant 20 million trees annually, scale up recycling and cut open waste burning by 40%. On adaptation, Nigeria is committing to build climate-smart cities, strengthen flood defenses, and expand insurance and social protection for vulnerable communities.
For the very first time, Nigeria has also integrated health into the NDC, committing to improve climate resilience in health services, such as achieving sustainable, reliable clean energy access in 44 government tertiary care hospitals by 2030 and delivering 2,000 climate-resilient primary healthcare facilities by 2030. In line with the COP 28 UAE Consensus Deal, Nigeria has also placed Just Transition at the core of its interventions to ensure fairness and equity, addressing the needs of vulnerable populations.
Commitments to address growing climate impacts
Without doubt, these commitments may be bold and ambitious but let’s not forget what they really mean. Behind these NDC 3.0 commitments are real human stories – across all the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Stories of optimism amidst climate induced strife anticipated by many urban and rural communities. It is here that the story of Nigeria’s climate ambition needs to be told.
Between 1991 and 2020, Nigeria has witnessed changes in the mean temperature
Nigeria Metrological Agency
For instance, in Northwest Nigeria, around Kebbi and Sokoto, farmers speak of rivers running dry earlier than before, forcing them to abandon traditional crops. Desertification is gradually encroaching, swallowing farmland and displacing pastoralists who now travel further in search of pasture which often ignite conflict.
In the Northeast, communities around Lake Chad live with the trauma of a water body that has shrunk by 90% since the 1960s. For young people in Borno and Yobe, the lake’s disappearance has meant not just hunger but instability, as livelihoods vanish and tensions mount. In this case, the NDC 3.0’s focus on Nigeria’s adaptation plan targeting watershed restoration, livelihood diversification, and inclusive social protection aims to restore hope where despair has long reigned. This is similar in the Benue, North-Central “the Food Basket of the nation,” where erratic rainfall and incessant uncontrolled flooding are destroying harvests. Annually, farmers recount planting seeds three times in one season, only to watch floods wash them away. The NDC’s target to mainstream climate-resilient agriculture and invest in flood management in 12 river basins offers a way to protect both food security and dignity.
Around the Southwest covering the Lagos lagoon area, tells the story of climate change in cities. Rising sea levels threaten millions living in low-lying communities like Makoko. Floods, worsened by rapid urbanization, have become annual disasters. The NDC 3.0 pledges to develop climate-smart cities and enforce green building standards, integrating adaptation at the very core of urban planning. For many states in the Southeast, huge gully erosions cut through villages splitting entire villages apart. In some instances, schools and roads have been swallowed overnight. The pledge of zero routine flaring by 2030 and a 60% cut in fugitive methane emissions by 2035 therefore offers a chance to turn one of Nigeria’s most polluted regions into a beacon of transition.
Vice President Kashim Shettima annoucing Nigeria's National Determined Contributions (NDCs) during the 80th UN General Assembly 2025.
UN
From Commitments to Implementation – The Financing Question
Together, these stories show why Nigeria’s NDC 3.0 is not just an abstract document but a living direct response to the lived realities of communities. Of course, the hard part is how to meet this ambition with adequate, predictable, and sufficient financing. Nigeria estimates it will need US$337 billion between 2026 and 2035 to fully deliver NDC 3.0. This is where all partners need to come to the table. UNDP Nigeria is already supporting the federal government to put in place a robust framework to support Nigeria raise the financing required to meet this ambitious NDC. However, these steps are only a start – and the international community must rise to the challenge and support Nigeria in closing its financing gap.
As we look at 2035, we know that the next decade will test whether Nigeria can turn these ambitious NDC 3.0 targets into transformation, and hence answer the question on whether every child in the Northeast can grow up with secure livelihoods, and whether families in Lagos can live without fear of inundation by floods and easily access clean water for their sustenance. Indeed, Nigeria has boldly declared its climate action intent. The real work of implementation now begins.