Our Terms & Conditions | Our Privacy Policy
The World Bank, in partnership with Visualflow Media, has trained 17 journalists on Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) and sustainable reporting, in a move to strengthen climate communication and bridge Nigeria’s environmental knowledge gap.
The two-day workshop, held in Abuja, was aimed at equipping journalists with the tools to report on the economic and policy dimensions of natural capital, highlighting its critical role in Nigeria’s climate adaptation and environmental planning.
Natural Capital Accounting is a data-driven framework used to measure and assign economic value to a country’s natural assets such as land, forests, and water resources.
Read also: Urging more reforms, World Bank stalls on $1.5bn support for Nigeria
According to Ahmed Abdullahi, an environmentalist with the World Bank who facilitated the training, NCA has become essential to Nigeria’s efforts in managing environmental degradation and guiding restoration interventions.
“Natural capital goes beyond what GDP measures. It reveals the true picture of our economy by integrating forests, water, and land resources,” Abdullahi said during his presentation.
He explained that Nigeria’s NCA journey, led by the National Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with federal and state stakeholders, has resulted in the development of land cover maps, physical asset accounts, and transition metrics that track land use changes between 2015 and 2020.
However, accessing the right data presented significant challenges.
“We had to adopt a hybrid approach that combined SRCCI and Global Forest Management datasets to uncover key environmental transitions,” he noted.
Abdullahi highlighted that the outputs of the NCA project are already being used in states like Kaduna and Nasarawa for watershed management, landscape planning, and climate-smart agriculture.
He also noted that the initiative has garnered support from both local and international partners, including the UN Statistics Division, the National Council on Climate Change, and several federal ministries.
Calling for a journalism approach that moves beyond problem-focused narratives, Abdullahi stressed the need for solutions journalism to shape public policy and environmental outcomes.
Echoing this sentiment, Yekeen Akinwale, Abuja Bureau Chief of The Cable, delivered a session on how solutions journalism can shift the national discourse.
He described it as a “rigorous, evidence-based approach” that centers on community responses to environmental challenges rather than solely highlighting the problems.
“It’s not enough to say what’s wrong. We must show what’s being done, what’s working, and how others can learn from it, even if the solutions have limitations,” Akinwale said.
Read also: Poor infrastructure deepens Nigeria’s food insecurity – World Bank
He cited examples such as solar-powered boreholes, women-led savings cooperatives, and grassroots healthcare monitoring as impactful stories that blend accountability with hope.
He emphasized the importance of credible evidence, multiple sources, and balanced reporting in maintaining journalistic integrity.
“No solution is perfect. Reporters must acknowledge gaps like lack of funding or expertise while still documenting progress,” he added.
Participants at the workshop praised the training for enhancing their understanding of climate economics and the role of journalism in advancing sustainable development.
Helen Emmanuel, a participant said the sessions opened her eyes to how data can bring clarity to environmental reporting.
“NCA isn’t just about accounting, it’s about understanding and reporting our ecosystem in a way that makes policy sense,” she said.
As climate challenges intensify across Nigeria, the World Bank’s push for capacity building in environmental journalism is seen as a timely intervention to not only inform the public but also influence policy decisions at all levels.
Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.
Aggregated From –
Comments are closed.