POLICY STRATEGIES FOR CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION: INTEGRATING SUSTAINABILITY INTO NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS

Abstract

The issue of climate change has been a serious developmental concern especially to the developing nations where the need to grow economically has been in conflict with the need to sustain the environment. This paper explores the ways in which mitigation of climate change can be incorporated in the national development planning in an effort to promote sustainability in terms of Nigeria. Based on the Sustainable Development Theory, the Ecological Modernisation Theory, and Systems Theory, the study designs the conceptualisation of mitigation strategies, such as the implementation of renewable energy, increased energy efficiency, policy tools, such as regulatory and market-based instruments, technological innovation, and institutional governance, as the implication of mitigation strategies on the sustainability outcomes, measured in environmental, economic, social, and energy aspects. The research design adopted in the study is qualitative research design and is purely descriptive research design as it uses secondary sources of data only, which includes peer reviewed academic sources, institutional reports of various countries, national policy documents and sustainability indicator datasets. In systematic document analysis and thematic synthesis, empirical evidence was considered and combined with the purpose of evaluating the connection between mitigation measures and sustainability achievement in the context of national development. The results show that when the policies of climate mitigation are strategically managed together with the development planning, the environmental quality, the energy security, the economy diversification, and the societal resilience was enhanced. Nevertheless, as seen in evidence of Nigeria, a wide range of persistence, such as disjointed policy and institutional mechanisms, mobilisation of climate finances, and mainstreaming of mitigation goals into wider development priorities are present. The researchers conclude that climate mitigation and sustainability results are mutually supportive when done through integrated policy frameworks that are coherent. It suggests enhancing institutional coordination, raising the consistency of policies, and increasing the investment in low-carbon development pathways in favor of the transition of Nigeria to sustainable national development. The research has an addition to the literature because it empirically synthesizes the mitigation-sustainability nexus in a developing nation setting.