LEGAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVES ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND OCEAN ACIDIFICATION IN NIGERIA AND UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Abstract

The issues relating to Climate Change and Ocean acidification pose urgent environmental threat and interlocking crises for underdeveloped coastal states over the years. Notwithstanding, the well documented ecological and economic consequences as well as legal and policy frameworks, it has been observed that in countries such as Nigeria the menace remain, strikingly silent on Ocean Acidification-specific mitigation, adaptation and regulatory oversight. Against this backdrop, the paper critically evaluated the intersection of environmental vulnerability and legal inadequacy, using Nigeria as a case study to highlight the broader crisis facing underdeveloped nations. Drawing on international instruments such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as well as the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goal 14.3, identified gaps in global-to-local legal translation and the systemic weaknesses in Nigeria’s national legislation; including the NESREA Act, NOSDRA Act and Environmental Impact Assessment Act. Consequent on the above, the author argued that there is a significant disconnect between international environmental obligations and domestic implementation, compounded by limited institutional capacity, fragmented legal mandates and minimal integration of ocean acidification into national climate policies. The paper therefore maintained the need for a pathway for reform; emphasizing the relevance for context-specific legal instruments, sub-regional cooperation within West Africa and a justice-oriented approach to environmental governance. The author concluded by calling for urgent recognition of ocean acidification as both a legal and policy priority in Nigeria as well as other underdeveloped coastal states.