Nigeria becomes fifth country to establish a programme under the BOGA Fund

PRESS RELEASE:

The Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA), an international alliance of governments working together to facilitate the managed phase-out of oil and gas production, today announces an initial two-year $800,000 programme to support Nigeria’s efforts to transition its economy away from oil and gas. 

The programme, which starts in Q4 2025, will assess the economic risks and opportunities associated with the transition, including implications for Nigeria’s oil and gas revenues and impacts on associated industries and workers, and will develop policy options to support Nigeria’s economic diversification and long-term structural transition away from oil and gas dependency. It will also explore options for the development of sustainable, resilient and inclusive economic and industrial sectors, and the frameworks required to support investment in them, including infrastructure, skills, active labour market and social policies, with an emphasis on Nigeria’s youth. 

The programme will be implemented by local delivery partners in partnership with the National Council for Climate Change (NCCC) and relevant ministries and will support the implementation of next steps under Nigeria’s NDC, which acknowledges the economic implications of the transition away from oil and gas. The programme will complement existing bilateral and multilateral support for the decarbonisation of Nigeria’s oil and gas production and the implementation of short-term emissions reductions from the sector. 

Omotenioye Majekodunmi, Director General of the National Council on Climate Change, Nigeria, said: “Nigeria’s climate ambition acknowledges the delicate balance we face: our current reliance on fossil fuels and our long-term goal of net zero by 2060. Through our Energy Transition Plan and NDC, we are laying the foundations for gradual but steady progress. This programme under the BOGA Fund is a signal of our commitment to explore pathways for economic diversification and a just, orderly and inclusive transition.” 

Lars Aagaard, Minister for Climate, Energy, and Public Utilities, Government of Denmark, co-Chair of BOGA, said: “We congratulate Nigeria for taking this important step which will help the country determine its next steps towards its transition away from oil and gas. The fact that BOGA can support countries that are at early stages in their planning and policy development is a central part of its commitment to supporting a global just and equitable transition." 

The BOGA Fund is designed to support just transitions away from oil and gas. It provides rapid analytical, policy and technical assistance on the transition away from oil and gas to Global South governments wanting to develop their vision of an economy beyond oil and gas. With US $20 million, the Fund acts as a catalyst, informing requests for larger-scale, long-term support for just transitions from oil and gas. In collaboration with the NDC Partnership, the BOGA Fund is currently offering support to governments that want to reflect Paragraph 28 and the commitment to transitioning away from oil and gas in their forthcoming NDCs. 

The development of the BOGA Fund programme in Nigeria was led by the NCCC, which established a cross-government working group to develop the programme, including representatives from the Ministry of Petroleum, National Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, National Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Ministry of Environment and Nigerian National Petroleum Company.