IMPLEMENTATION AND BARRIERS

Climate change and sustainable development are currently topics of global repute. Anthropological activities aimed at achieving socio- economic advancement take a toll on environmental health culminating in climate change and threatening sustainable development. Climate change is possibly the sole glaring challenge confronting sustainable development. It is a problem with a nexus to civilization, industrialization and economic advancement. Hence, calculated action must be taken to address climate change. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 cum Agenda 2030 represents a ray of hope, envisaging a world where environmental sustainability, equity and prosperity cohabit, in contrast to the current situation where the world wrestles with unprecedented challenges. This paper examines the machinery in place for attaining SDG 13 in Nigeria premised on taking action to combat climate change, progress made and inherent challenges to the actualization of SDG 13. It assesses the state of achievement of SDG 13 targets such as increase in resilience and adaptive capacity to climate related disasters in Nigeria, promotion of education and awareness, strengthening of human and institutional capacity with respect to climate change mitigation and adaptation, early warnings and impact reduction. The research methodology employed is the Doctrinal legal research method, referencing primary and secondary sources of law, online journals as well as online materials inclusive of data obtained from international websites, SDG Progress Reports and dashboards. The study comparatively analyses Nigeria’s Climate Change Act 2021 with climate change Acts from Denmark and the United Kingdom. Pursuant to their positive rankings in the Climate Change Performance Index 2025, Nigeria can draw lessons from their climate change action. The paper finds inter alia, that climate change is occasioned by natural as well as anthropological unsustainable practices that exploit the environment; climate change has cross-sectoral impact in Nigeria beyond affecting environmental mediums; Nigeria has a multiplicity of framework to address climate change nationally and internationally; despite the fact that she does not experience a dearth of policies, gaps exist in implementation owing to a number of factors including insufficient funding to engage in impactful climate action, lack of coordination amongst government agencies, limited climate literacy and lack of political will of the government thereby prioritizing economic interests and relegating climate action aspirations to the realm of verbal platitudes. The study recommends inter alia, adequate funding; improved coordination amongst agencies; increased climate literacy; sincerity and political support for climate plans and programmes in order to achieve SDG 13 in Nigeria as well as the prioritization of environmental health by diversifying from extreme reliance on fossil fuel to drive the energy sector.