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World Bank has trained 17 journalists on Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) and sustainability reporting as Nigeria use natural capital data to monitor climate degradation.
The training is aimed at equipping participants with the knowledge and tools to report effectively on the economic and policy dimensions of natural capital in Nigeria.
This is in a bid to using solution journalism as a strategy to drive environmental accountability and raise public awareness.
Mr Ahmed Abdullahi, an environmentalist representing the World Bank, in Abuja on Wednesday, introduced NCA as a framework that measures and values a country’s natural resources to understand what it is worth in the environment.
Abdullahi said that journalist needed to be trained to bridge the knowledge-gap in the society about natural capital hence the need for capacity building and collaboration with stakeholders.
He said during his presentation that collaboration with stakeholders has been instrumental in building the capacity of government agencies for natural capital accounting.
Abdullahi noted that Nigeria’s NCA efforts have led to practical applications guiding national development.
“It is already being used to monitor environmental degradation and guide restoration efforts which forms the basis of our forestry intervention planning.”
He said the process was led by the National Bureau of Statistics in partnership with national and sub-national stakeholders.
He explained that accessing relevant data posed significant challenges that required an hybrid approach that exposed major environmental transitions.
“Getting data that is suitable for our purpose was very difficult it was settled that a hybrid approach is the best approach using SRCCI and Global Forest Management Dataset.”
“Between 2015 and 2020 developing the land cover maps, a physical asset account, as well as the land cover check metrics, showing transitions between land types.”
He added that policy integration has begun to yield results in key sectors with stakeholder engagement cutting across government agencies and international organisations.
“Already some institutions have started utilizing the output helped in watershed management, landscape planning, and climate smart agriculture in Kaduna and Nasarawa states.”
“We have both national and sub-national members, the federal ministries, NASDA, National Council on Climate Change, state governments, World Bank, and UN Statistics Division.”
“It allows us to embrace natural resources beyond traditional GDP… showcases the true picture of our economy including forests, land and water resources.” He said.
He emphasised that solution journalism approach is needed to shape policy outcomes.
“Shift the narrative from problems to solutions demonstrate practical cases like Nasarawa where outputs improved climate adaptation planning.”
Yekeen Akinwale, Abuja Bureau Chief of The Cable, also provided insights into the role of solutions journalism in environmental reporting.
“It’s a rigorous, evidence-based approach to reporting that focuses not only on problems but also on how people are responding to those problems, telling the success stories of people in the community.”
He described it as response-centered, evidence-based, and capable of providing transferable insights while acknowledging limitations.
“Includes credible evidence showing how the response is making a difference, not just good intentions.”
“Must house lessons others can learn from as our problems are almost similar across Nigeria.
“No solution is perfect, you must indicate challenges like lack of resources/expertise.” He said
Akinwale cited real-world examples including solar-powered boreholes, rural women’s savings initiatives, and community-led healthcare monitoring as effective cases of solution reporting.
He said such stories not only attract partnerships and encourage replication but also maintain journalistic integrity through multi-source verification and balanced narratives.
“Interview as many people as possible testimonies from beneficiaries, data, before/after comparisons.
“Maintain independence, no advocacy, show both successes and gaps.” He said.
He added that solutions journalism can shift narratives and drive systemic change in governmental and non-governmental actions and policies.
Helen Emmanuel a participants from blueprint newspaper shared how the workshop had broadened her knowledge on solution journalism and NCA.
Emmanuel said that the workshop introduced and broadened her knowledge about how NCA is not just about accounting but reporting the ecosystem with data.
She said that she looked forward to more enlightenment about natural capital accounting.
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