Climate policy researcher A’aron John, founder and Program Director of the Centre for Climate Action, Innovation and Engagement, has launched the Climate Action Index (CAI), a public dashboard that profiles climate risk exposure and readiness across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The Index was developed through a collaborative effort with a group of climate and accountability experts and researchers, including Abel Owotemu, founder of Greenage Development Fund, and Umar Yakubu, Executive Director of the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity. The CAI focuses on governance and execution risk –assessing policy alignment, implementation signals, and the availability of verifiable public data rather than climate hazards alone.
The framework is grounded in an initial research paper, a nationwide baseline assessment, and a stakeholder validation workshop that convened over 80 participants from government institutions, the private sector, civil society, and the research community.
Insights from this process shaped the preliminary methodology and helped align it with institutional realities at the subnational level.
Findings from the first baseline reveal wide variation in climate readiness across states and identify transparency gaps as a major constraint on effective climate action and climate finance. By making this information publicly accessible, the CAI is intended to support federal coordination and strengthen Nigeria’s ability to track how states contribute to its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and broader climate ambitions.
The Climate Action Index is positioned as a public-interest climate governance and risk-profiling tool, developed by Nigerian researchers and practitioners in support of ongoing government efforts to improve coordination, accountability, and investment decision-making.
The dashboard is available at www.climateactionindex.org
