Climate change advocate and founder of the FactCheck Initiative and Kaci Help, Temitope Adeoye, says the vast potential of carbon credits in Nigeria, is “the crude oil of the green economy.”

Drawing on a personal encounter with a curious farmer during a community outreach in Abuja, Adeoye revealed how little awareness exists around carbon credits despite their transformative economic and environmental implications.

A carbon credit is essentially a permit that allows an individual or entity to emit one metric ton of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases.

Those who reduce emissions, such as through tree planting, clean energy adoption, or sustainable farming, can earn these credits and sell them to others looking to offset their carbon footprint.

In an article published on FCI’s website and medium, Adeoye simplified it by comparing carbon credits to water rationing: if you use less than your share, you can sell the excess to someone who used more. The same logic applies to carbon.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is among the continent’s top emitters of greenhouse gases. However, its vast forests, agricultural landscape, and budding renewable energy sector make it ripe for carbon credit generation.

Citing the Nigerian Climate Change Act of 2021, which commits the country to net-zero emissions by 2060, Adeoye argued that carbon markets could be instrumental in meeting that goal. Government initiatives like the push for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as an alternative fuel source also support emission reduction efforts.

Adeoye outlined the key steps to earning carbon credits: baseline assessment, which involves estimating what emissions would have been without the project; project implementation, which refers to taking emission-reducing actions such as switching to clean energy; and monitoring and verification, where independent bodies confirm the impact and issue credits.

Adeoye shared a case study from a state in Nigeria, where a farming cooperative planted 10,000 trees and generated over 2,000 credits, which were later sold to a European company.

He noted that Nigeria’s carbon credit ecosystem is expanding, with organizations like Carbon Credit Network (CCN), which partners with local farmers to generate credits through reforestation, among others.

He said major corporations such as Dangote Group, NNPC Ltd, OANDO, and Seplat are also identified as key actors, both in generating credits through clean initiatives and in offsetting emissions from their core operations.

Despite the potential, Adeoye noted challenges like poor awareness, high verification costs, and lack of clear policies.

He suggested solutions including government-backed education programs, subsidies for verification, national and state-level incentive frameworks, and establishing a National Carbon Registry, similar to those in Ghana and Kenya.

According to Adeoye’s estimates, if just 10 major Nigerian companies each generate or purchase 1 million carbon credits annually at $10 per credit, Nigeria could unlock a $100 million market every year, while reducing emissions and boosting rural development.

“Nigeria should not only be a victim of climate change, we must become active participants in the green economy,” Adeoye stated.

He urged policymakers, private sector leaders, and community stakeholders to invest in climate-smart initiatives and leverage the carbon market for both economic and ecological benefits.

“Whether you’re a farmer in Nasarawa, a startup founder in Lagos, or a policymaker in Abuja, the carbon credit conversation belongs to you,” he added.

Vanguard News