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The Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP) has urged Nigeria to strengthen and enforce building codes to improve climate resilience as climate talks at COP30 highlight rising emissions and risks.
Ms. Ifeoma Adenusi, a climate activist at SPP disclosed this on Wednesday against the backdrop of the ongoing negotiations at COP 30 holding in Brazil.
Adenusi said Nigeria faced growing vulnerability as severe floods, heatwaves, and infrastructure failures worsen, demanding urgent action to embed resilience within construction practices nationwide.
She noted that buildings contribute heavily to global emissions, adding that Nigeria’s cement sector emits over 11 million tonnes annually, worsening national climate risks and increasing pressure on rapidly growing cities nationwide.
She said Nigeria’s 24-million-unit housing deficit and prevalence of substandard structures have driven widespread informal construction that often ignores climate resilience and exposed millions to flooding, heat stress and hazards.
She recalled major disasters, including the 2012 floods displacing 2.1 million people and the 2018 floods affecting hundreds of thousands, warning that worsening climate impacts threaten national development and stability.
Adenusi said Nigeria’s climate policies, including the NDC, Climate Change Act and building codes, remain weakly enforced.
She added that the development has created a gap between national commitments and practical implementation across states nationwide.
She identified corruption, bureaucratic delays, and weak institutional capacity as major obstacles, noting that complex permitting processes encourage bribery and informal construction, thereby undermining compliance and increasing safety risks nationwide.
Adenusi said enforcement remained largely reactive, often triggered only after building failures or public outcry.
She stressed that Nigeria’s challenges reflect governance shortcomings requiring systemic reform across regulatory and professional institutions.
She highlighted Kenya’s updated building code and India’s tiered sustainable building standards as successful models.
According to her, these models demonstrate how mandatory resilience requirements and market-driven incentives can improve compliance and encourage greener construction.
She urged Nigeria to integrate climate resilience into the National Building Code, including standards for energy efficiency, water management, flood protection and embodied carbon reduction alongside inclusive design for residents.
Adenusi also called for streamlined permitting, improved agency coordination, transparent digital systems, and mandatory training for building officials to curb corruption, enhance accountability, and strengthen enforcement at federal and state.
She said Nigeria’s 24-million-unit housing demand presents a transformational opportunity to build safer, climate-resilient structures, warning that failure to act now will increase future costs and threaten long-term national stability.
