Climate Change, Green HRM, and the Just Transition of Energy Sector Workers in Nigeria: An Original Theoretical and Policy Framework

This doctoral study develops an original theoretical framework integrating Green HRM, Just Transition Theory, and Political Ecology to analyse the workforce implications of Nigeria's energy transition agenda and propose a contextualised Green Employment Relations Framework for managing the transition's labour market consequences. As Nigeria pursues renewable energy expansion alongside petroleum sector restructuring under climate commitments and the Petroleum Industry Act, hundreds of thousands of fossil fuel sector workers face displacement, skill obsolescence, and community economic disruption, yet the HR management architecture for managing this transition does not exist. Drawing on Green HRM Theory, the ILO Just Transition Framework, and Gramsci's analysis of structural economic transformation, this study employs a theoretically generative mixed-methods design involving 120 qualitative interviews with petroleum sector workers, renewable energy HR managers, energy policy officials, and environmental justice advocates across Lagos, Abuja, Rivers, and Sokoto States, supplemented by quantitative analysis of energy sector employment data and skills gap assessments. The original theoretical contribution is a Nigerian Green Employment Relations Framework that identifies four transition pathways, including reskilling-to-green, community enterprise transition, managed decline with welfare floor, and abandonment without support, and maps the HR management conditions required to navigate each pathway with minimal worker harm. The study also generates the first empirical skill gap analysis comparing petroleum sector worker profiles with emerging renewable energy role requirements in the Nigerian context. Recommendations include a national Green Skills Development Fund, ILO-compliant just transition legislation, and sector-wide HR planning committees for the energy transition. Keywords: green HRM, just transition, energy sector, climate change, Nigeria