Climate Watch: FG seeks to transition 1 million rural households to cleaner cooking in three years

Climate change directly affects our communities, health, and livelihoods.

Yet, media coverage often prioritises politics and business over climate-related stories, leaving crucial environment news under-reported.

Climate Watch seeks to bridge this information gap, ensuring that important climate change stories and mitigation efforts stay on your radar.

Here is a round up of last week’s climate stories:

• Nigeria has begun talks on its bid to host the 32nd edition of the conference of parties (COP) in 2027. Africa is billed to host COP32 in the next two years, after Egypt hosted the event in 2022. Nigeria’s interest picked up pace following the arrival of Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in Africa’s most populous nation. Read more here.

• Simon Stiell, UNFCCC executive secretary, says a strong national climate plan can supercharge the Nigerian economy with green growth and sustainable development. He said efforts are in place to ensure that Nigeria and other countries alike access more climate finance in order to help them adapt to the impact of extreme weather effects. Read more here.

• The Lagos state government says it has launched Africa’s first subnational carbon exchange and clean cookstoves project. The project, which was unveiled on February 4, is in collaboration with GreenPlinth Africa and international partners. The initiative aims to attract climate capital, de-risk low-carbon investments, and position Lagos as a leader in clean energy access. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos governor, said the state will distribute six million clean cookstoves at no cost to beneficiaries. Read more here.
• The federal government has reaffirmed its commitment to promoting clean energy solutions to empower women in communities across the country. Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, minister of women affairs, spoke on February 4 at the distribution of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders in Maiduguri, Borno state. She said the programme aims to transition about one million households in underserved communities to clean cooking solutions over the next three years. Read more here.