The Modalities of Climate Change in Nigeria: The Legal and Institutional Framework (Published)
Climate change poses severe and potentially irreversible risks to human populations and ecosystems globally, with developing nations bearing a disproportionate burden. Nigeria, given its geographical and socioeconomic vulnerabilities, ranks among the countries most exposed to its adverse effects yet remains critically underequipped in legal and institutional terms to confront it. This article examines the adequacy of Nigeria’s existing legal and institutional framework for climate change regulation, arguing that the absence of dedicated climate legislation, the ineffectiveness of general environmental law provisions, and the poor implementation of government policy have created a governance vacuum that undermines the country’s mitigation and adaptation capacity. Drawing on international climate law instruments including the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement and comparative domestic frameworks, it advocates for a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s climate governance architecture. It recommends the enactment of climate-specific legislation, the establishment of accountable institutional structures, dedicated climate financing, and the effective implementation of Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement as essential steps toward a legally robust and climate-resilient Nigeria.
Keywords: Climate Change, Legal, Nigeria, institutional framework, modalities
Intellectual Property Rights as Ethical Response to Global Climate Change Crisis (Published)
Debate regarding the contribution of Intellectual Property (IP) rights to lessening climate change is intensifying. On one side, IP optimists emphasize their function in encouraging investment in Research, Development and Commercialization. However, alternative view, principally associated with developing countries, sees the monopoly rights embodied in IP as a barrier to technology adoption and international transfer and this has led to a dilemma in IP rights ethically responding to global climate change.The role of intellectual property rights with regards to climate change has remained a divisive issue. Not only has no agreement been reached in this area, but even the path to a constructive and meaningful discussion seems elusive. Unless the role of intellectual property is addressed in a constructive and balanced manner, the potential for achieving sustainable and realistic outcomes from the climate talks could be compromised.This article explored the complex relationship between IP rights and climate change through technology-based reductions in emissions and with reference to sustainable development laws. It also considers the role IP rights can play in delivering technological change to abate the issues of climate change crisis by arguing that climate change is legally disruptive, with existing legal doctrines and frameworks forced to confront, respond, and perhaps even evolve to respond to climate change, beyond the application and incremental development of existing rules and doctrines written in the context of linkages between private international law and public international law.It concludes by outlining some plausible strategies that are necessary in resolving the dilemma associate with IP rights ethically responding to global climate change.
Citation: Kujo Elias McDave (2022) Intellectual Property Rights as Ethical Response to Global Climate Change Crisis, Global Journal of Politics and Law Research, Vol.10, No.3, pp.50-68,
Keywords: Climate Change, Innovation, Intellectual Property Rights, Patent, Technology