The Legal Framework for Climate Change Adaptation in Nigeria: Assessing the National Climate Change Act 2021

Nigeria enacted the Climate Change Act in 2021, establishing a national legal framework for climate change response that imposes obligations on government agencies, state authorities, and corporate entities. As climate vulnerability intensifies across all of Nigeria's geopolitical zones, affecting agriculture in the North, coastal communities in the South, and urban infrastructure in the centre, the legal framework for adaptation has assumed critical importance. This research conducts a systematic legal assessment of the National Climate Change Act 2021, examining its policy design architecture, institutional implementation mechanisms, and consistency with Nigeria's Paris Agreement commitments and national adaptation plan. A doctrinal and policy analytical methodology was employed, supplemented by interviews with the National Council on Climate Change secretariat officials, environmental lawyers, and state-level environmental management agency heads across four geopolitical zones. Secondary sources include UNFCCC Nigeria national communications, adaptation finance reports from the Green Climate Fund, and climate change law scholarship from 2021 to 2024. The study develops an original assessment rubric for national climate adaptation legislation drawing on comparative legal frameworks from Kenya, South Africa, and Bangladesh. Findings reveal implementation gaps particularly in the Act's mandatory climate mainstreaming provisions for state government planning and in private sector adaptation liability frameworks. The research contributes original analytical value to the nascent field of Nigerian climate law and recommends regulatory instruments to strengthen Act implementation. Keywords: climate change law, Climate Change Act 2021, adaptation, Paris Agreement, Nigeria.