There is something profoundly symbolic about workers discussing climate change in a country where millions still struggle daily with electricity shortages, unemployment, inflation and collapsing infrastructure. For years, climate negotiations sounded like elite environmental conversations held in distant cities among diplomats speaking technical grammar unfamiliar to ordinary citizens. But that reality is changing rapidly. Today, climate change has entered the factory floor, the construction site, the farm, the transport sector and even the local market.
This is why the preparedness of the Nigeria Labour Congress ahead of the forthcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Sixty-Fourth sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and Subsidiary Body for Implementation meeting – known by its acronym UNFCCC SB64 – in Bonn, Germany, from June 8 – 18, 2026, deserves serious attention.
The Subsidiary Bodies meeting may not attract the glamour and media attention of the annual Conference of the Parties (to the UNFCCC) summits, but insiders know it is one of the most important technical arenas in global climate diplomacy. It is at SB64 that much of the real negotiation happens — from adaptation frameworks to climate finance, transparency mechanisms, energy transition pathways and increasingly, the politics of Just Transition.
For Nigerian workers, Bonn represents something bigger than another international conference. It is a test of whether labour can successfully redefine climate change as not merely an environmental issue, but a workers’ survival issue. Thanks to the work of the NLC Climate Change, Green Jobs and Just Transition Programme, led by National Coordinator Comrade Echezona Asuzu, climate policy has become labour policy – and the Nigerian model and interventions are critically acclaimed in the region.
The recent post-COP30 and pre-SB64 tripartite review meeting and synthesis workshop in Keffi, Nasarawa State, supported by the International Labour Organisation, showed signs that organised labour is gradually building ideological and strategic capacity around the Just Transition agenda. The engagement focused on the Just Transition Work Programme, which was operationalised at COP30 through the Just Transition Mechanism. This is important because global climate politics is increasingly moving toward implementation in line with the central outcome of the COP30 in Belém, Brazil, last November. The era of beautiful speeches is ending; the era of consequences has begun.
The NLC General Secretary, Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja, stated clearly, “At the SB 64, Parties to the Paris Climate Change Agreement will seek to consolidate the gains made at COP 30. The key issues to be discussed include Climate Finance, the Global Goal on Adaptation, the Mitigation Work Program, Climate-related trade measures, the Just Transition Mechanism, Loss and Damage, and other key global climate workstreams.
“In line with the position of trade unions in Africa going into COP 30, the Nigeria Labour Congress calls for the prioritisation of socio-economic transformation for African and Global South economies through climate policies at SB 64. This includes the promotion of Green Industrial Policies, energy sovereignty and access for all, removal of climate-related punitive trade measures in line with the CBDR-RC principles, and the restructuring of the global financial architecture, including the review of the current de-risking models, which are heavily tilted against African countries and make the cost of Green Transformation triple exorbitant for countries in Africa.
“We demand that trade unions take up an active stakeholder role in the JTM, especially through holding formal decision-making power. We also demand that the funding for the JTM must unlock genuinely new and additional funding integrated to support workplace climate measures including evidence gathering, skilling, upskilling and reskilling, social protection, Occupational Safety and Health, protection of informal workers and formalisation of informality, trade unions’ capacity building on climate change negotiations and reporting through the Enhanced Transparency Framework, and compensation for workers impacted by climate change.”
The Just Transition concept depends heavily on social dialogue between governments, employers, and workers. The Keffi meeting strengthened this tripartite engagement model by bringing together labour actors and climate stakeholders to deliberate collectively on Nigeria’s climate future. This collaborative approach is especially important in Nigeria, where energy reforms, subsidy removals, inflationary pressures, and unemployment have heightened social tensions. Integrating labour concerns into climate planning can help reduce resistance to transition policies while ensuring greater social acceptance.
The Keffi synthesis meeting, therefore, functioned as a preparatory platform for Nigerian labour representatives and allied stakeholders. By reviewing COP30 outcomes and harmonising positions before SB64, the NLC strengthened Nigeria’s readiness to engage with evolving international climate policy discussions. This preparation is vital because many decisions affecting workers’ livelihoods — particularly around fossil fuel transition, industrial decarbonization, and climate financing mechanisms — are often shaped at the subsidiary body level before being formally adopted at COPs.
Ultimately, the engagement has long-term strategic implications for Nigeria’s climate governance framework in several ways.
But central to strengthening labour representation within Nigeria’s climate policy institutions. It is instructive to note that for the first time, state council NLC leaders were part of the synthesis process, and this means that the outcomes shall be effectively reticulated at the sub-national level, with far-reaching grassroots impact.
The Enugu State NLC Council Secretary, Comrade Jasper Kelechi, who was at Keffi, revealed that he was going to utilise a cost-effective method known as ‘Study Circles’ in transferring his freshly acquired climate knowledge to NLC members in the state. He explained, “In Enugu, twenty different Unions have already indicated interest in being part of study circles, and we are going to use this method to downscale Just Transition knowledge to our members. We have this process whereby we train the trainers on-site at their workstations. This process means that workers on their own agree to make out time to learn during their work hours.”
Subnational leadership is strategically important because state governments and local institutions are closer to workers and communities. They understand the peculiarities of local industries, labour markets, agricultural systems, and social vulnerabilities. Governors, local councils, state labour leaders, and traditional institutions can therefore design transition policies that respond directly to local realities. Indeed, if the sub-national workers’ unions do not understand Just Transition, they will not be able to demand it from these local authorities and climate governance institutions.
For countries like Nigeria, where economic realities and environmental challenges differ across regions, downscaling Just Transition is not optional — it is essential. Climate impacts are experienced locally. Flooding affects workers differently in riverine states, desertification threatens livelihoods in northern communities, while oil pollution and energy transition concerns dominate the Niger Delta. Therefore, climate solutions and labour protections must also be localised.
The Senior Deputy General Secretary of the National Union of Civil Engineering, Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers, Comrade Bright Osabuogbe, who was at the Keffi meeting, detailed how his union members working in various construction sites around the nation are impacted by climate change.
“Right now, I am getting reports from workers who are on site in Bonny at the LNG Train 7 project. Climate change has impacted our union members because most of them work outdoors. Take the issue of flooding, for instance, when it comes, they are forced to stop work, and sometimes, when the contractors insist, they remain on site in adverse weather conditions, they are forced to resign, and there is no compensation for them. There is also the impact of extreme heat. Not to mention the emissions that are generated from the nation’s transition to concrete-based road construction. All these have dire impacts on our workers, yet there are no provisions made for their welfare. This is why Just Transition is important.”
Indubitably, the NLC meeting was more than a routine stakeholder engagement; it represented an important evolution in Nigeria’s climate governance landscape. By placing workers side by side with employers and governments at the centre of social justice and climate discourse, the meeting strengthened the foundations of Nigeria’s Just Transition programme.
As global climate negotiations move deeper into implementation, labour organisations will increasingly shape how countries manage the difficult balance between emissions reduction, economic growth, and social protection. The Keffi meeting demonstrated that Nigerian trade unions are preparing to play that role actively and strategically, especially in exploring options for formalising the so-called informal sector, which would be strategic in climate action initiatives. Its significance, therefore, lies in helping ensure that Nigeria’s climate transition is not only environmentally sustainable but also socially inclusive, economically fair, and politically viable.
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