The annual assessment evaluates how effectively Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) govern and implement climate action, environmental sustainability and related policies at the sub-national level.
Speaking at the launch in Abuja, the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, urged state governors to make climate action an integral part of their development and investment priorities.
Lawal said the Federal Government, under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, remained committed to providing technical assistance, capacity development and collaboration to enable states strengthen their climate governance frameworks.
“Let us use this Third Edition to transform competition into constructive learning, rankings into accountability, and commitments into tangible outcomes,” he said.
The minister commended the 36 states and the FCT for participating in the assessment, urging them to use the initiative to strengthen climate governance, build resilience and promote sustainable development.
He added that with stronger commitment from state governments, Nigeria could build a resilient, low-carbon and prosperous nation while ensuring that no state or community was left behind.
Presenting the assessment, the President of SPP, Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke, said the ranking was not merely a measure of a state’s climate record or vulnerability to climate change, but an assessment of how effectively states were governing and implementing climate action.
He said the assessment covered five major areas: climate institutions and governance; climate policy and action plans; climate project implementation and monitoring; climate budget and finance; and online visibility of climate activities.
Okereke said states were required to provide evidence of five major climate projects, from which the three best-performing projects were selected for scoring.
He added that the assessment also considered budgeting, access to climate finance, stakeholder participation, monitoring and evaluation, and online visibility.
“The ranking was based on evidence submitted by the states, followed by verification, with strict emphasis on transparency and integrity,” he said.
According to him, the latest results showed substantial improvement in climate action at the sub-national level, while stronger collaboration, peer learning, improved implementation and better access to climate finance could further enhance Nigeria’s response to climate change.
The latest ranking represents a significant reshuffling of the leading states since the exercise began in 2024.
The first edition, launched in July 2024, was topped by Lagos State, followed by Gombe and Ebonyi states, while Borno and Ekiti shared the fourth position. At the bottom of the inaugural ranking were Oyo, Kano and Zamfara, which occupied 34th, 35th and 36th positions respectively.
Lagos retained the number-one position in the second edition released in October 2025, scoring 315 points out of 365. Katsina made one of the most dramatic improvements, jumping from 25th position in 2024 to second place with 310 points, while Kaduna moved from 16th to third.
Kano also recorded a particularly striking improvement in the second edition, moving from 35th position in 2024 to fourth in 2025. The state’s performance was attributed to improvements in climate institutions, policy, implementation and other areas covered by the assessment.
The second edition therefore saw Lagos, Katsina and Kaduna occupy the top three positions, while Kano and Enugu broke into the top five after significant improvements from their previous performances.
The third edition has now produced another major change, with Katsina displacing Lagos from the top position. Abia moved into second place, Kano climbed to third, Lagos dropped to fourth, while Kwara entered the top five in fifth position.
The result is particularly significant for Katsina, which has moved from 25th in the inaugural ranking, to second in the 2025 edition and now first in the latest assessment. SPP had previously described the state’s 23-place rise between the first and second editions as one of the most significant improvements recorded under the ranking initiative.
In his acceptance speech, Katsina State Commissioner of Environment and Special Adviser on Climate Change, Prof. Mohammed Alamin, said the state viewed climate action as both a development and security issue.
He said Katsina was particularly concerned about the effects of desertification, resource pressure and climate variability on agriculture, livelihoods and communities.
Alamin said the administration of Governor Dikko Radda had prioritised the participation of young people and women in climate action, alongside initiatives such as the Katsina One-Person-One-Tree programme.
He said the programme targets the planting of two million trees in 2026 and 11 million trees by 2030.
He added that Katsina was positioning its climate, agriculture, renewable energy and carbon-market opportunities for international engagement, describing the ranking as both recognition of the state’s climate governance efforts and an opportunity to showcase its broader green-development agenda.
The third edition thus marks a further evolution of the annual assessment, which SPP says has increasingly placed emphasis on evidence, verification and actual implementation rather than policy commitments alone.
