When climate policy overlooks the most vulnerable, it fails everyone. That principle now drives Nigeria’s newest multi‑stakeholder push for justice, and the African University of Science and Technology (AUST)has risen to that challenge.

Through its Centre for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Studies (C3AMS), AUST has been inducted into the National Working Group on Human Rights and Climate Change (NWG‑HRCC), a platform convened by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), to weave human rights firmly into the country’s climate governance.

Co‑chaired by the Minister of Environment and the Director‑General of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), the Working Group signals a high‑level federal commitment to climate action that puts people first.

At the Inauguration Ceremony held in Abuja, NHRC Executive Secretary, Dr. Tony Ojukwu, OFR, SAN, laid out the group’s mandate in his keynote address, stressing that climate policies, programmes, and institutions must be grounded in human rights principles.

The event attracted representatives from federal agencies, development partners, academia, and civil society, all ready to turn that vision into practice.

Inclusive governance took center stage during discussions, with special attention to ensuring Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) have a genuine voice in climate decisions. Comrade Yussuf Olatunji Kelani, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Climate Change, also announced that the Federal Government will roll out a nationwide capacity‑building programme on climate adaptation and mitigation before the end of the year.

For AUST, this inauguration is more than a title. It is a milestone in the university’s rising national role in climate research and policy leadership. Through C3AMS, the university will bring evidence‑based research and technical know‑how to the table, helping build climate resilience that never loses sight of the rights of every Nigerian.