Nigeria is updating its climate plan by boosting its use of fossil gas, a move that critics are calling a risky bet.

What’s happening?

As Africa’s biggest oil producer, Nigeria is in a tough spot. The nation is “plagued by unreliable and patchy power supplies,” according to Climate Home News. In response, Nigeria’s updated climate plan aims to nearly double its gas-fired power capacity by 2035.

Vice President Kashim Shettima defended the plan, calling gas a “cleaner fuel.” But the nation remains a “fossil-fuel-dependent nation,” and this reliance on dirty energy creates significant risks for its financial stability and its people.

Why is this concerning?

The dirty energy industry is the primary driver of the heat-trapping pollution that is overheating our planet. Its operations are also linked to severe air and water pollution, which have serious public health impacts. A guidebook on Nigeria’s transition warns this dependency creates “continued environmental liabilities linked to oil production” and a risk of “legacy oil and gas pollution being neglected and ignored.”

Experts warn this new plan is a step backward.

Sofia Gonzales-Zuñiga, a senior policy analyst at Climate Analytics, called it “a risky strategy that could either lead to stranded assets, or lock it into ongoing fossil fuel emissions, when it could be reaping the benefits of much cheaper — and cleaner — renewable energy.”

Zainab Aliyu of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative urged policymakers to focus on renewables “rather than investing in a fuel source that is most likely to repeat the oil curse.”

What’s being done about this issue?

This focus on dirty energy stands in stark contrast to other recent events. Former presidential candidate Peter Obi slammed the president for buying a new private jet, a move that produces up to 14 times more pollution per passenger than a commercial flight.

“I will not use 150 billion [naira] to buy a jet when 80% of our primary health centers are not functioning,” Obi stated on a televised program.

While the government debates, other groups are investing in genuine clean energy for Nigeria. A new $500 million fund, partly backed by Nigeria’s Sovereign Investment Authority, is being launched to expand renewable projects. The initiative aims to help the over 85 million people in the country who still lack access to electricity by funding solar home systems and mini-grids.

International investors also see the opportunity. U.K.-based Octopus Energy recently started its own fund to invest in African renewable infrastructure, noting that one study suggests the continent holds 39% of the world’s renewable potential.

Africa50 CEO Alain Ebobisse called the $500 million partnership a “game-changer in accelerating investment in distributed renewable energy across Africa.”

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