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- Semaform summit to spotlight funding gaps, food security at COP3
Nigeria requires approximately $336.5 billion to finance emissions reduction and climate adaptation between 2026 and 2035, the Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), Mrs Tenioye Majekodunmi, has said.
The funding requirement comprises $195 billion for emissions mitigation and $141.5 billion for adaptation, highlighting the scale of investment needed to strengthen the country’s climate resilience and transition to a low-carbon economy.
Majekodunmi said the investments could create jobs and boost economic resilience, particularly in the energy, agriculture, infrastructure and other critical sectors.
The figures were contained in a statement announcing the forthcoming Handshake Summit and Awards organised by the Semaform Foundation, scheduled for November 13 in Antalya, Türkiye, during the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31).
The summit, themed “Climate Finance, AI Investment and Trade,” will bring together stakeholders to discuss funding challenges, food security, clean energy and the role of technology in accelerating climate action.
As part of the event, the foundation will launch Grant Swipe, a platform designed to connect organisations with grants and investment opportunities, particularly those working with communities most exposed to climate risks.
The foundation said the platform was intended to address the disconnect between community organisations seeking funding and financiers looking for credible projects, a gap it identified as a major obstacle to translating climate plans into measurable results.
The summit will also recognise 20 individuals for their contributions to climate action, environmental governance and sustainable development.
Its opening panel, “Happy and Hungry,” will examine the persistence of hunger despite significant growth in global agricultural production, with an estimated 670 million people still going hungry.
The panel will explore how climate disruption, fragmented trade and changing demand are increasing pressure on food systems, alongside questions about the reliability of artificial intelligence in climate and energy communication.
Participants will include Daniel Oladoja, Lead Curator of Solar Stories and Visiting Fellow at the University of Exeter; Dr Babatunde Ajayi, General Manager of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency; and Dr Joy Nnamdi Amaoma of the Niger Delta Development Commission. The session will be moderated by Chaste Inegbedion of Semaform Foundation.
Another session, “Ladies in Climate,” will focus on access to green finance for women and persons with disabilities, with particular attention to clean energy and economic opportunities for underserved groups.
The discussion will feature Titilayo Oshodi, Special Adviser on Climate Change to the Lagos State Governor, and Nneka Okoye, Executive Director of World Impact Initiative. Lyzianah Emakoua, a United Nations Economic Commission for Africa African Youth Climate Negotiator, will moderate.
Among the award recipients are Hon. Dr Kama Nkemkanma, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Climate Change and Security; Nnaemeka Oruh, Secretary of the committee that drafted Nigeria’s Climate Change Act; Enebi Opaluwa of BudgIT Foundation; and Comrade Yusuf Olatunji Kelani, Special Assistant to the President on Climate Change.
The summit coincides with COP31’s Finance and Trade thematic day and is expected to address ways of mobilising resources for food security, clean energy transition and climate-resilient development.
Inegbedion, who recently returned from the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, said inadequate funding remained a major barrier to climate progress.
“Funding is the difference between a climate plan and climate progress. We created the Handshake Summit & Awards so that recognition becomes relationships, and relationships become funded, measurable action,” he said.
Ebaide Queen Omiunu, Founder and Executive Director of The Ebaidebheki Initiative and the summit’s master of ceremonies, said affordable climate finance, food security, climate resilience, equitable energy transition and credible carbon-market investments should remain priorities in international climate negotiations.
“Our delegates must speak with one voice for Nigeria’s interests at the negotiations. But our voices go beyond Nigeria. They carry across the Global South, the United States, Europe and the entire world,” she said.
