The Global Environment Facility–United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (GEF–UNIDO) project has engaged media practitioners as key partners in advancing industrial energy efficiency and cleaner production practices across Nigeria.

The initiative, aimed at improving industrial energy performance while reducing waste and environmental impact, seeks to promote eco-friendly production methods that lower operational costs and support sustainable industrial growth.

Speaking at a workshop for journalists in Kano, National Project Coordinator of GEF–UNIDO Nigeria, Mr Oladipo Jaccob, said the project was designed to encourage the adoption of industrial energy efficiency measures that cut costs and enhance environmental sustainability.

According to him, the global intervention on industrial energy efficiency and resource-efficient cleaner production is being implemented in 10 industrialised zones across the country, including Kano, Kaduna, Lagos, Warri, Delta, Anambra, Aba, Port Harcourt, Edo and Ogun States.

Jaccob explained that the project is being domesticated across key sectors such as wood and furniture, iron and steel, food and beverages, textile and leather products, and petrochemicals, with the goal of reducing pollution, improving energy performance and enhancing cost savings.

Also speaking, National Technical Coordinator of the GEF–UNIDO Industrial Energy Efficiency and Resource-Efficient Cleaner Production (IEE–RECP) Project, Dr Oluwasegun Oshidipe, said the workshop was aimed at deepening journalists’ understanding of industrial energy efficiency and sustainability concepts.

“The workshop is designed to educate media practitioners on the fundamentals and key components of industrial energy efficiency and resource-efficient cleaner production. This will help them better understand sustainability, its relationship with industry, and its impact on households and the broader economy,” he said.

Oshidipe stressed the importance of accurate communication, noting that the success of international development projects depends significantly on effective media engagement.

“An international project can be implemented, but no matter how laudable it is, if the media cannot understand and communicate it to the public, it will amount to winking in the dark,” he added.

In her presentation titled Best Practices for Reporting on Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Industrial Practices, Project Communication Expert Mrs Mojisola Osiboye highlighted the media’s role in ensuring accuracy, consistency and accountability in reporting sustainability initiatives.

She said the workshop was designed to strengthen journalists’ capacity to understand project methodologies and accurately report the environmental and economic benefits of energy efficiency and sustainable industrial practices.

“If a factory claims it is benefiting from a UNIDO project, journalists should be able to verify such claims using key indicators,” Osiboye said.

She emphasised that understanding UNIDO-recognised sustainability methodologies enables journalists to accurately interpret technical results and effectively translate complex concepts for the public.

“We need journalists to understand these methodologies so they can report based on informed judgment. When you interpret technical results correctly, you become translators of sustainability for society,” she added.