………Pledges Council support for subnational governments and other stakeholders in first official engagement.
………Council finalizing Nigeria’s National Climate Finance Strategy.
Abuja, 13 August 2025—Mrs. Tenioye Majekodunmi formally assumed office as the Director-General of Nigeria’s National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) on Wednesday August 6, 2025. At a ceremony held at the Council’s headquarters in Abuja, she delivered her maiden address to the management and staff of the Council, outlining ambitions for the Council under her leadership “to be remembered as the generation that changed the game for climate governance in Nigeria.”
Majekodunmi, the third Director-General of the Council—Nigeria’s nationally designated authority and official focal point for combating climate change and its impacts—is a climate finance expert and environmental lawyer who previously served as the Council’s Financial Adviser. She has worked extensively in Nigeria and internationally in shaping and implementing policies and programs in renewable energy, carbon markets, and climate governance. She was appointed to the office by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on July 31, 2025.
“It’s truly an honour to stand before you today—not just as your new leader, but as someone who has walked this path with many of you over the past 17 years,” Majekodunmi said, to a roomful of Directors, Assistant Directors, and Scientific and Desk Officers. “I’ve known this institution intimately—from the outside as a private sector partner, as a consultant within this sector, as a development partner, and now as a colleague working alongside many of you. And I’ve seen firsthand the dedication, brilliance, and potential that lives here.”
She stressed that her assumption of office “marks a new chapter. A chapter rooted in healing, unity, and global ambition. We have too much to do, and the stakes are too high for us to be divided or distracted by internal politics… We are one team, and we will win as one.”
Looking ahead, she pledged to devote herself fully to the mandate of the Council. “Our climate crisis is urgent. The world is moving fast—and Nigeria must not be left behind. It is time for us to step boldly into the global arena with a clear identity: We are efficient. We are responsive. We are game changers.”
She added, “When someone reaches out to NCCC, they must meet a team that is proactive, professional, and highly competent… We move with purpose. Our vision must be global. Our impact must be local. And our attitude must always reflect excellence.”
In her first official engagement as Director General, on Monday August 11, 2025, the new Director-General attended a stakeholder session to review a draft guide that will enable Nigeria’s state governments more easily access climate financing from multilateral development banks and other global sources like the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility.
The draft Climate Finance Guide was developed under the Partnership for Agile Governance and Climate Engagement (PACE), a program funded by UK International Development to support solutions to Nigeria’s climate and governance challenges.
Speaking at the peer review session, held at the Abuja Continental Hotel, and attended by representatives of federal and state governments, development partners and other stakeholders, Majekodunmi said: “We are here today for one reason: to ensure that Nigeria is ready—ready to access the climate finance we need, and ready to use it to transform lives. The reality is simple: without climate finance, our ambitions remain just words on paper. But with it, we can build resilient farms, protect our coastlines, power our homes with clean energy, and secure the future for our children.”
Underscoring the role of the NCCC in driving policy and institutional frameworks, capacity building; and leveraging market mechanisms that will unlock new revenue streams, Majekodunmi disclosed that the Council is currently finalizing Nigeria’s National Climate Finance Strategy, to “serve as a blueprint for mobilizing and coordinating climate funds from domestic, bilateral, multilateral, and market-based sources.”
She pledged the Council’s continued openness to collaboration. “The NCCC stands ready to continue working with PACE, development partners, state governments, and the private sector to ensure that we not only access climate finance but also channel it effectively to where it is needed most.”
About the NCCC
The National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) is the Nationally Designated Authority and official Focal Point to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), working to address the impacts of climate change in Nigeria through a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response.
Established in 2022, by Section 3 of the Climate Change Act of 2021, the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) is the body charged with the power to make policies on all matters relating to climate change and green growth in Nigeria. The Council is headed by the President, as the Chairman of the Council, and administered on a day-to-day basis by a Director-General who doubles as the Secretary of the Council.
Signed
Jummai Vandu
National Council on Climate Change (NCCC)
The Presidency, Abuja, Nigeria
14 August 2025
