Nigeria: COP31 - Nigeria Ranks Third Among Countries With Highest Registered Participants At UN Climate Conference

What the report says

Nigeria is listed as the third-largest national delegation at the ongoing COP31 UN climate conference in Turkey, according to provisional attendance figures cited by Premium Times and distributed by AllAfrica. The report says Nigeria has 1,506 registered participants, behind host country Turkey and Brazil, and ahead of China and Indonesia. Of Nigeria’s total, 573 are in the “Party” category and 933 are registered as “Party Overflow,” a UNFCCC distinction that separates official negotiators from broader government-linked attendees.

The article says the size of Nigeria’s delegation has renewed scrutiny of public spending on international conferences, especially as many Nigerians face economic hardship. It notes that government officials have previously said not everyone listed under Nigeria’s banner is state-funded, because the delegation can also include civil society members, researchers, businesspeople and other stakeholders. However, the report says a full public breakdown of how many participants are financed with government money has not been released.

Premium Times places the current debate in the context of COP28 in Dubai, where Nigeria also had one of the largest delegations. The article suggests that the lack of transparency around delegation funding has raised accountability concerns and questions about who is representing Nigeria in negotiations and technical sessions. The broader COP31 attendance figures are also notable: the summit is provisionally the largest UN climate conference on record, with more than 92,000 registered participants, though final numbers will be confirmed later by the UN climate body.