By Joke Kujenya
NIGERIA’s VICE-President Kashim Shettima’s call for new financial systems to “harness the economic value of nature” has drawn sharp condemnation from leading climate justice groups, who describe the proposal as an attempt to commodify the environment and distort the principles of true climate justice.
Speaking in Belém, Brazil, ahead of the forthcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 30), the VP had urged the creation of finance systems that would monetise Nigeria’s natural assets as part of strategies to boost economic resilience and fund sustainable growth.
However, a consortium of civil society and environmental advocacy groups – Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Lekeh Development Foundation, and Social Action – issued a joint statement rejecting the proposal.
The organisations said the idea represents “a concerning misinterpretation of true climate justice” and risks subordinating environmental protection to corporate and market interests.
According to the statement, the VP’s proposition to treat Nigeria’s forests, water bodies, biodiversity, and land resources as tradable assets would place the country on a path that prioritises profit over the rights and well-being of its citizens, particularly those most vulnerable to climate impacts.
“We find this framing deeply troubling because it reduces nature – our collective heritage and source of life – to a mere economic asset.
“This approach, often disguised under concepts like ‘nature-based solutions,’ ‘carbon markets,’ and ‘carbon offsetting,’ encourages the financialisation of the environment, turning ecosystems into speculative commodities traded for profit,” the groups said.
They warned that such market-driven schemes have historically led to ecosystem degradation and social dislocation.
“These arrangements prioritise financial returns over preservation and disrupt local food systems by displacing smallholder farmers and indigenous communities from their ancestral lands, worsening food insecurity and rural poverty,” the statement continued.
The environmental organisations further argued that the commodification of nature violates human dignity, cultural values, and traditional stewardship practices that have sustained local ecosystems for generations.
“It opens the door to corporate capture and greenwashing, where polluting companies buy carbon credits instead of cutting emissions, continuing to destroy the planet while pretending to be ‘climate champions.’
At the same time, this model risks an erosion of national sovereignty, as it mortgages Nigeria’s ecological wealth to volatile international carbon markets and external investors,” they added.
In their jointly signed release, the consortium reaffirmed its commitment to ecological justice and called on the Nigerian government to resist the temptation of trading the country’s natural wealth for short-term financial returns.
The statement urged authorities to pursue people-centred solutions that address both environmental sustainability and social equity.
“The government should invest in building a sustainable and equitable future by prioritising renewable energy, including solar, wind, and other clean technologies that are proven to be environmentally friendly and accessible to all.
It should also support agroecology and community-led conservation practices that protect biodiversity while ensuring food sovereignty and resilience,” the groups stated.
They emphasised the need for broad-based dialogue before Nigeria takes definitive positions on environmental or climate policy.
According to them, climate action should be developed through inclusive consultation among government, civil society, indigenous peoples, and local communities to ensure legitimacy, fairness, and shared ownership of the outcomes.
“Climate action must be people-centred, rooted in justice, equity, and the protection of human and environmental rights, not dictated by the profit motives of corporations or global carbon traders,” the statement said.
The coalition also highlighted that market-based environmental policies could deepen existing inequalities if not guided by principles of justice and human rights.
“True climate justice demands that nature remains a shared trust, not a tradable commodity. It is the duty of the State to safeguard the environment, human culture, and dignity, not to exploit them in pursuit of inhuman market interests,” the statement concluded.
The group also stressed that their joint declaration reinforces the position of many grassroots climate justice movements across Africa, which have long argued that the monetisation of nature through carbon markets and offsets undermines the core principles of environmental integrity and sustainable development.
