Topic: 2025 – Artificial Intelligence and Resource Consumption
Country: Nigeria
Delegate Name: Siddhant Sinha
United Nations Environment Programme
Impact of Climate Change on Air Quality
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Siddhant Sinha
Forest Hills Eastern
Welcome honorable chair and esteemed delegates, the Federal Republic of Nigeria is here to discuss with you all the impact of climate change on air quality in the UN. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is debating the Impact of Climate Change on Air Quality because climate change is directly reshaping atmospheric conditions, amplifying harmful pollutants such as ground-level ozone, particulate matter, wildfire smoke, dust, and allergens. This topic is critically important because deteriorating air quality is already responsible for millions of premature deaths globally each year, and climate-driven changes are projected to intensify pollution exposure, especially in developing countries lacking strong monitoring and mitigation systems. Scientific evidence from UNEP shows that higher temperatures accelerate ozone formation, climate change extends pollen seasons and intensifies allergen production, and increased droughts and wildfires release vast quantities of soot and fine particulates. UNEP’s Integrated Assessment of Air Pollution and Climate Change for Sustainable Development in Africa highlights that African countries are particularly vulnerable because climate impacts combine with existing pollution from transport, biomass burning, industry, and poor waste management. Nigeria sees this issue as urgent: climate change already worsens dust storms, heat-driven ozone occurrences, urban pollution, and burning emissions. Studies show that more than 21,000 Nigerians die annually from carbon dioxide exposure, much of it linked to household fuel use and burning practices that are made worse by climate-amplified heat and weather instability. Nigeria has taken steps to address this intersection through its National Action Plan to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (NAP-SLCP), which aims for major reductions in, black carbon, methane,and other pollutants by 2030; the plan, approved by the National Council of Ministers, outlines sector-specific actions in transport, household energy, agriculture, and waste. The country is also developing a Health National Adaptation Plan to integrate climate-driven air-quality risks into national health responses, while national institutions-supported by UNDP-have strengthened governance linking climate and air pollution with natural resource management. Research institutions such as ICEESR are studying Nigeria’s climate-pollution dynamics for use in adaptation policies. Despite this progress, Nigeria recognizes that climate change will continue to worsen air-quality challenges unless action to address the interrelated problems is coordinated. Nigeria will further develop air-quality monitoring networks, enhance emission standards, promote clean-cooking measures to reduce black carbon,cleaner transport, and investments in renewable-energy-powered urban development to cut both pollution and greenhouse gases. Nigeria calls for UNEP to support global and regional frameworks that integrate climate and air-quality planning, establish common standards, and provide technical and financial support to developing countries. Because Nigeria believes strongly that solutions must be integrated, science-based, and health-centered, reducing short-lived pollutants offers an immediate opportunity to both protect public health and slow near-term climate warming.
