On November 17, 2021, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria signed the Nigerian Climate Change Bill, 2021, to law – Climate Change Act, 2021. This landmark legislation which was passed just four days after the United Nations Climate Change Conference (which held from October 31, 2021 – November 13, 2021), highlights the efforts of the Nigerian Government in combatting climate change. The purpose of the Climate Change Act (‘’the Act’’) as stated in the explanatory memorandum, is to provide a framework for mainstreaming of Climate Change actions, provide for a system of carbon budgeting, and 1 establish the National Council on Climate Change.

Before enacting the Act, the efforts of the Nigerian Government on climate change were only streamlined to the issuance of climate change policies, the submission of Nationally Determined Contribution interim report, etc. The most recent policy is the Revised National Climate Change Policy for Nigeria (the Policy), signed on June 2, 2021. The vision of the Policy is to create a ‘low-carbon, climate-resilient Nigeria’ while its goal is to ‘promote a low-carbon, climate-resilient, and gender-responsive sustainable socio-economic development.

Similarly, on May 27, 2021, whilst acting under the provision of Article 4.2 of the Paris Agreement, the Federal Ministry of Environment prepared and subsequently sent Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contribution Interim Report pursuant to the Executive Secretary of the  United Nations Framework on Climate Change. Accordingly, the enactment and consequent passing of the Act heralds the dawn of a new era in Nigeria’s climate change history. This paper examines the highlights and innovations of the Act.