The \u201cGiant of Africa\u201d, Nigeria is a country rich with natural resources, and the largest population on the continent with 219 million people. Africa\u2019s giant is predicted to get even bigger, as the population is forecast to grow to 377 million people by 2050. However, its natural resources are already under strain, with rising carbon emissions and increasing deforestation.
\nAs part of our series of blogs looking at Nigeria in preparation for our Population Conversation roundtable event next week, we ask: with a booming population, what lies ahead for Nigeria\u2019s environment?
\nNigeria has the biggest population and economy in Africa,\u00a0with a population of 219 million.\u00a0It\u2019s predicted to overtake the US to become the world\u2019s third most populated country by 2051. Nigeria\u2019s rapid growth is the result of its large young population coming into child-bearing age, with\u00a0currently half of the population under the age of 19.\u00a0It\u2019s home to some of Africa\u2019s richest individuals, however stark wealth inequality divides the country, with\u00a0two-thirds of the population below the poverty line.
\nNigeria is a country incredibly susceptible to the effects of climate change. The capital city Lagos bordering on Nigeria\u2019s coastline is vulnerable to rising sea levels. A UN report revealing that many communities in the\u00a0Niger Delta have lost or fear losing their homes\u00a0due to coastal erosion.
\nRising global temperatures will also endanger Nigerians with an increasing frequency of heat waves.\u00a0Nigeria\u2019s Climate Risk profile\u00a0predicts that more than 20% of the population will be exposed to heatwaves that are\u00a0detrimental to human health.\u00a0And the number of \u201cvery hot days\u201d is set to increase by about 90 days in most regions.
\nNigeria\u2019s economy is predominantly built upon oil and gas exports, profits from fossil fuels accounting for 93% of Nigeria\u2019s export revenue. Nigeria produced\u00a0129 metric tons of CO2 in 2023, the 4th\u00a0highest emissions in Africa.
\nThe bulk of Nigeria\u2019s emissions are from oil and gas production, and the practice of \u201cgas venting\u201d, where unwanted gases surfaced during oil production \u2013 predominantly methane \u2013 are released into the atmosphere.\u00a0Methane is a greenhouse gas 28 times more potent that carbon dioxide.
\nThere is also \u201cgas flaring\u201d, the practice of burning off surfaced gases, releasing carbon dioxide as a by-product that contributes to emissions. An estimated 6.6 billion cubic metres of gas was flared in Nigeria in 2021 \u2013\u00a0making it the world\u2019s seventh largest gas flarer.
\nDespite the massive production of oil and gas, Nigeria has one of the highest rates of energy poverty in the world. The World Economic Forum defines energy poverty as the \u2018lack of access to modern energy services and products\u2019, a situation where there is an absence of sufficient choice in accessing adequate, reliable, affordable, safe, and environmentally suitable energy services.
\nLawson writes from Lagos.<\/p>\n
By: Humphrey Lawson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The \u201cGiant of Africa\u201d, Nigeria is a country rich with natural resources, and the largest population on the continent with 219 million people. Africa\u2019s giant is predicted to get even bigger, as the population is forecast to grow to 377 million people by 2050. However, its natural resources are already under strain, with rising carbon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-329229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=329229"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":329238,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329229\/revisions\/329238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=329229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=329229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=329229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}