By Danjuma Amodu | February 12, 2026
The Federal Government of Nigeria has submitted an updated National Forest Reference Emission Level (FREL) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), marking a significant step forward in the country’s efforts to strengthen transparency in forest-related climate reporting.
The update was completed with technical support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through its AIM4Forests project. The revised FREL incorporates several methodological advancements, including the incorporation of forest degradation, forest litter carbon pool data, and methane and nitrous oxide emissions from fire-induced forest degradation.
These enhancements improve the completeness and accuracy of Nigeria’s forest emissions estimates, reinforcing national reporting capacity and producing clearer information for international climate processes. With the updated FREL submitted, Nigeria can now advance towards stronger climate reporting and potential access to results-based finance tied to emission reductions.
The submission of the updated FREL is a result of collaboration between the FAO, the Global Forest Observations Initiative’s (GFOI) Country-Led Planning (CLP) Team, and Nigeria’s National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) and Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) framework teams.
According to FAO, the improvements significantly reinforce Nigeria’s national reporting capacity, producing clearer and more robust information for international climate processes. The updates also position Nigeria to access results-based finance tied to emission reductions.
Upcoming priorities for Nigeria include implementing the national MRV Enhancement Plan, updating forest inventory datasets, integrating the new FREL into national policy processes, and strengthening institutional coordination among federal and state-level actors.
FAO confirmed it will continue supporting the Government of Nigeria as it moves into the next phase of forest monitoring and climate governance.
