CLIMATE JUSTICE CLINICS: WHERE ARE NIGERIAN PROGRAMMES AND WHAT OPPORTUNITIES EXIST?

Abstract

Climate justice clinics represent one of the most dynamic intersections of legal education and environmental advocacy in the contemporary world. Yet, whilst such institutions have taken root across the Global North and, increasingly, in parts of Africa, Nigeria, a country bearing some of the most severe climate burdens on the continent, has yet to establish a dedicated climate justice clinical programme. This article traces the global and African origins of climate justice clinics, examines the existing landscape of clinical legal education in Nigeria, interrogates the legal and institutional gaps that impede their development, and maps out the considerable opportunities that exist for Nigerian law schools, civil society organisations, and policy-makers to cultivate climate-specific legal clinics. It argues that the confluence of a pressing climate crisis, an evolving legislative framework, and an energised civil society makes the present moment a uniquely favourable one for building institutional capacity in this space.