Sustainable Development

Climate change is one of the most urgent issues of our time with widespread implications for the earth’s ecosystems and human development across sectors. Although gender equality and women’s empowerment are acknowledged pre-requisites for sustainable development, climate change policies neglect these important issues. The Heinrich Böll Foundation commissioned this study to assess the impact of climate change on local communities from a gender perspective as well as make recommendation on how to combat the local consequences (adaptation measures) using the relevant local institutions/agents which also needed to be identified. Download publication (PDF, 71 pages, 2.9 MB)

The Heinrich Böll Foundation is a catalyst for green visions and projects, a think tank for policy reform, and an international network We work with 160 project partners in over 60 countries and currently maintain 30 international offices. Read more

How will Nigeria look like when the oil is finished? How can millions of Nigerians access growth with green jobs and a fairer distribution of wealth? Nigeria's ambition to become one of the world’s top 20 economies by the year 2020 means that the country must grow its economy, create jobs and promote social cohesion without destroying its natural resources and thus harming the well-being of future generations. The Green Deal Nigeria study provides an overview and practical examples of how to green Nigeria before 2020 and explains the long-term measures that Nigeria needs to take today to make the economy grow beyond oil, which is expected to finish for all practical purposes in 15 to 20 years’ time. The study explains how to stem corruption in the oil industry, stop gas flaring and how to launch a clean energy economy that provides jobs for millions of ordinary Nigerians, especially the young. The study looks at how a shared vision of sustainable growth can reduce tension and conflict. What is Green Deal Nigeria?  

Floods, storms and ocean surges are becoming more frequent in the megacity of Lagos, but the 15 million citizens have no adequate climate change adaptation and emergency measures in place. The project “Mobilising Local Governments for Climate Action” by Community Conservation and Development Initiatives (CCDI) encourages local governments to develop the necessary adaptation projects for their specific communities. Although local governments should be in the best position to tailor the appropriate strategies, the project report points at institutional, technical and financial shortcomings which currently hinder efficient implementation.

This study looks at the Oil Commissions in some Niger Delta states, which were set up 10 years ago in order to ensure that the oil wealth trickles down to the communities living in oil producing areas. How is the Commissions’ work impacting on the lives of these communities? Do they work in a transparent manner? What is their self-perception? Uwafiokun Idemudia is Assistant Professor of Development Studies and Director of the African Studies Programme at the York University in Toronto, Canada. He visited the states of Delta, Edo and Ondo in 2011 for this study.    

The Foundation is active world-wide with more than 30 regional and country offices. It is active in Nigeria since 1994 and established a Nigeria Country Office in Lagos in May 2002. Since April 2011, the Foundation works from its Abuja office. Programs on sustainability, women’s rights and good governance form the core of the Foundation's work in Nigeria.

The Heinrich Böll Foundation is part of the Green political movement that has developed worldwide as a response to the traditional politics of socialism, liberalism, and conservatism. Our main tenets are ecology and sustainability, democracy and human rights, self-determination and justice. We Are a Green Think Tank and an International Policy Network.