Stakeholders across Nigeria’s maritime, oil and gas, energy and environmental sectors have been challenged to move beyond fragmented climate initiatives and establish a multi-stakeholder Decarbonisation Hub capable of turning Nigeria’s blue economy ambitions into bankable projects, strategic partnerships and measurable emissions reductions.
The proposal was made by Dr. Felicia Chinwe Mogo in a featured address at the 2026 World Decarbonization Day celebration, held in Lagos alongside the Women in Energy, Oil and Gas (WEOG) and World Decarbonization Summit.
Speaking on “Nigerian Blue Economy: Advancing Decarbonization through Collaboration, Innovation and Sustainable Climate Action,” Mogo argued that Nigeria’s extensive maritime and ocean resources represent far more than an environmental asset. Properly developed and protected, she said, they could become a major engine of economic diversification, job creation, climate resilience and sustainable national growth.
She described the blue economy as an approach to economic development that harnesses ocean-related sectors while advancing human well-being, social equity and protection of the marine environment.
Mogo noted that the concept has evolved from primarily an environmental concern into a strategic economic and industrial opportunity**, with growing implications for Africa’s trade, investment, energy security and sustainable development.
She recalled that Africa’s blue economy gained significant international momentum following the first Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, in November 2018, which attracted more than 18,000 participants from 184 countries.
Countries including Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Morocco, Seychelles and Mauritius have since developed national blue economy strategies, while the African Union has identified the sector as a potential driver of continental transformation.
But Mogo cautioned that unlocking this potential requires more than policy ambition.
She stressed the need for stakeholders to understand and address the geographical, biophysical, historical, governance and regulatory dimensions of the blue economy, while simultaneously confronting the environmental, technological, financing and institutional challenges that could constrain its growth.
From climate ambition to decarbonisation action
Mogo positioned decarbonisation as a critical bridge between Nigeria’s blue economy aspirations and the country’s broader green transition.
She said reducing greenhouse gas emissions was no longer simply an environmental obligation but an economic imperative, necessary to protect communities and natural resources, maintain competitiveness in an increasingly low-carbon global economy, stimulate innovation and open up new employment and investment opportunities.
For Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, she identified opportunities including methane leak detection and reduction, elimination of routine gas flaring, electrification of operations, renewable energy deployment, low-carbon hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and improved energy efficiency.
The maritime sector, she added, presents another significant frontier for emissions reduction through vessel efficiency, slow steaming, shore-side electricity, wind-assisted propulsion, green methanol, green ammonia, hydrogen and other sustainable fuels, as well as onboard carbon capture technologies.
Mogo stressed that these opportunities should not be pursued in isolation.
She described the oil and gas and maritime industries as “inseparable twin sectors”, given their shared dependence on vessels, ports, logistics networks, offshore infrastructure, engineering services and coastal ecosystems.
This interconnectedness, she argued, creates an opportunity for the two sectors to collaborate on common decarbonisation pathways, share infrastructure and technology, mobilise investment and develop solutions with applications across multiple industries.
Blue carbon: turning ecosystems into climate assets
Mogo also drew attention to the largely untapped economic value of blue carbon ecosystems, particularly mangroves, seagrasses and wetlands.
Beyond their role in carbon sequestration, she said these ecosystems provide biodiversity protection, coastal resilience and livelihood opportunities for communities.
She further pointed to the emerging carbon economy as an avenue for transforming emissions reduction and ecosystem protection into investable economic assets.
According to her, the growth of carbon markets could generate new professional and commercial opportunities spanning measurement, reporting and verification (MRV), environmental assessment, carbon project development and management, climate-finance proposals, technology development and carbon-asset trading.
WEOG as the catalyst
At the heart of Mogo’s proposal is the establishment of a Decarbonisation Hub anchored by WEOG; a platform designed not to duplicate existing initiatives, but to bring them together and accelerate their impact.
She proposed that the hub operate around a simple but action-oriented “3Cs” framework:
- Convene — bring together government, industry, academia, financiers, technology providers, development partners, civil society and other relevant stakeholders.
- Connect — link ideas, technologies, expertise and finance with the projects and institutions capable of deploying them.
- Catalyse — convert promising ideas and partnerships into pilot projects, investments and scalable decarbonisation solutions.
Mogo called on WEOG to take the next step by convening a high-level technical dialogue involving relevant government ministries and agencies, the maritime and oil and gas industries, investors, technology providers, development partners and other key stakeholders.
The objective, she said, should be to define the hub’s mandate, identify priority decarbonisation opportunities and establish a practical pathway for moving from dialogue to implementation.
The proposed hub, she argued, could provide the missing connective tissue between Nigeria’s climate ambitions and the capital, technology, expertise and partnerships required to deliver them.
“The opportunity, therefore, is not simply to create another platform for conversation, but to build a mechanism that can turn conversation into collaboration, collaboration into projects, and projects into measurable decarbonisation outcomes for Nigeria’s energy, maritime and blue economy sectors.” she concluded.
