Symposium Posts

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The role of sub-national governments in ‘localising’ the UN SDGs in Nigeria

Evidence from Nigeria’s 2017 NVR indicates that the strategic framework for operationalising the SDG goals are far from localised. This top-down approach for designing SDG policies in Nigeria does not encourage SNGs to ‘foster actual ownership of the goals and embody their vision of the future in concrete actions and initiatives. Localising the SDGs is not a magic bullet solution to development problems in Nigeria; however, the involvement of SNGs as collaborators and co-designers of rules is crucial to the successful attainment of the SDGs. Especially, as funding is a significant impediment to the actualisation of the SDG goals, the federal government and SNGs must work in tandem to create innovative solutions.

Sustainable Development and Community Content in the Oil and Gas Industry

This contribution focuses on the inequalities that result within countries as a result of the activities of the oil and gas industry and which endure in spite of the local content policies that are adopted. Without endorsing local content as a legal/policy option that captures the position of local communities regarding the oil and gas industry, it argues that it is necessary to clarify the definition of local content because if the scope of local content is unknown, there is a likelihood that it will remain difficult to determine whether goals are being met especially with regard to host and impacted communities.

Symposium on Sustainable Development Goals, Trade, Investment, and Inequality

In short, the SDGs and its interesting set of targets are a fertile ground not only to reimagine past UN led decade themed goals and their implications for (sustainable) development, but, to also situate them in contemporary discourse of the activities of nations, transnational corporations and other non-state actors. As part of the 2019 Purdy Crawford Workshop, the contributions to the symposium on “Sustainable Development Goals, Trade, Investment, and Inequality” critically examine these goals from the vantage point of each contributor’s scholarly expertise.

Promoting Investment in the Renewable Energy Sector: Concluding Remarks and Future Legal Research Agenda

The blog posts presented in this symposium indicate that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the renewable energy (RE) sector is desirable to support decarbonisation and clean energy transformation in developing countries such as Nigeria. Despite the enormous potential for RE based on the natural conditions in Nigeria, there is high level of energy poverty and low level of investments in RE sector by both government and private investors.

New wine in old bottles: the renewable energy sector, climate justice and Pillar III of the United Nations Guiding Principles

It is important to ensure that such grievance mechanisms are robust with a clear mandate to hold corporations accountable to internationally recognised human and labour rights. The threat is that such processes will amount to no more than a PR campaign used by corporations in order to project that they act responsibly. The evidence so far is that most non-binding grievance mechanisms used by corporations have not delivered human rights compatible solutions to victims or communities. At least their use is not widely documented and has not been transparent or a source of continuous learning as per the requirements of Principle 31 of the UNGP.

Decarbonisation pathways for Nigeria: Promoting sustainable renewable energy-related FDI and the role of ADR in promoting RE-related FDI

The combination of the Model Law backbone (both for extant and putative law) and the change in direction of judicial policy in favour of enforcement of arbitration agreements and arbitral awards makes Nigeria well suited for the receipt of FDI in Renewal Energy Projects.

Fostering Effective Public Participation when Navigating Infrastructure Projects

Although recognised in the constitution since 1988, town planning has remained dogged by institutional and organisational failures, which in combination with a lack of commitment at federal and state levels to the funding of coherent and integrated development planning policy has, of necessity, led to greater reliance upon external resources (Ramon, 2017). Hence funding infrastructure development, in the given context presents difficulty as in many jurisdictions, whether developed or developing, given the multiple claims for funding that governments find they have to resource. 

Redefining the role for international environmental law in addressing climate change

There is a need for the international community to be circumspect in eliciting commitments for greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of climate change adaptation and mitigation targets from African countries, without a holistic assessment of how the process of achieving these commitments will affect the development trajectory of the continent. In addition to galvanising greater international support for FDI in renewables for country’s such as Nigeria with significant potential for renewable energy generation for domestic consumption, it is imperative that the proposed energy mix is affordable and suited to the local development needs.

Diffusing Potential Conflicts on the Road to Decarbonisation in Nigeria: Trade Unions as Forces for Continuity

Nigeria, in recognition of the varying economic, political, environmental and social dangers posed by the over reliance on carbon based forms of energy, has started to turn to the idea of decarbonisation. However, this process can be difficult to attain, because of conflict between the different actors in an energy system. When unresolved or improperly managed, such conflicts can delay / derail decarbonisation initiatives and could scare away Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) which has proven crucial in driving decarbonisation initiatives in emerging markets such as Nigeria.

Diversification of the Nigerian economy as a de-carbonisation pathway: opportunities and challenges

This contribution aims to examine Nigeria’s use of Green Bonds as an example of an innovative policy initiative which has the potential to promote economic development while simultaneously reducing Nigeria’s carbon emission levels.