Background: Climate change has become a defining challenge of global governance, intensifying disputes over responsibility, finance, and equity. Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer and a highly climate-vulnerable state, faces the dual challenge of sustaining economic growth while meeting global mitigation obligations.

Objective: This study examines how Nigeria’s foreign-policy engagement in global climate politics between 2016 and 2024 has influenced domestic climate-mitigation efforts.

Methodology: The study employed a qualitative, policy-focused research design that combined multiple data sources to capture the dynamics of Nigeria’s climate diplomacy. Primary data were drawn from 32 in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, including Nigerian policymakers, UNFCCC negotiators, civil-society leaders, and energy-sector actors. These insights were complemented by an extensive review of official documents. The data were analysed using thematic content analysis.

Results: Nigeria positioned itself as a regional climate leader—ratifying the Paris Agreement, pledging 47 % conditional GHG reduction by 2030 and net-zero by 2060, and pioneering Africa’s first sovereign green bonds. Yet progress was constrained by financing gaps, institutional fragmentation, oil dependence, weak monitoring systems, and climate-related insecurity such as the 2022 floods.

Conclusion and Recommendations: Bridging the persistent commitment–implementation gap requires strengthened institutions, diversified revenues, robust monitoring and verification systems, predictable climate finance, and empowered sub-national actors to translate international pledges into tangible emission-reduction outcomes.

Keywords: Nigeria; Global climate politics; Foreign policy; Climate change mitigation; Energy transition; Climate finance; Climate justice; Intergovernmentalism; Policy reform.