The Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu has unveiled the State’s Climate Change Action Plan, CAP, tagged “Lagos Climate Action Plan: Second Five-year Plan 2020- 2025.’”
The Lagos CAP is an updated document on a set of short and long term plans and actions the State has embarked upon and intends to implement to check the impact of global warming and ensure a sustainable city.
Governor Sanwo-Olu who unveiled the plans while also declaring open the Lagos 8th Climate Change Summit in Victoria Island area of the State noted that the onus is on everyone to collectively do everything necessary to save the planet.
Expressing delight that Lagos is the first State in the Country to formulate a Climate Actions Plan, and being a State below sea level which has made it vulnerable to the effect of climate change, the Governor urged Lagosians to support his government by reducing carbon emissions through these actions.
He said “We are now much more adept, as a government, at incorporating climate-friendly thinking into everything we do in Lagos State. Our goal now is to get Lagosians to imbibe the culture of climate awareness in their homes, workplaces and lifestyles by adopting climate friendly lifestyles, such as cutting down on the use of non-renewable energy sources, changing our mobility lifestyles (adopting car-pooling, cycling, etc.), eating more plant-based diets and less meat, and managing our waste creatively and sustainably.
We have a rich pipeline of projects being undertaken to address climate change and fast-track the attainment of our zero-carbon goal, across transportation, healthcare, energy, agriculture and waste management. Our public transport reform seeks to, among other goals, reduce the number of personal vehicles on our roads, by providing efficient alternatives in the form of low-emission buses and rail connections.
Governor Sanwo-olu said for three consecutive years, Lagos State has emerged with a B score, which is well above the African and Global average score and that the annual reporting has helped the State in terms of understanding what still needs to be done, in terms of environmental planning and environmental impact management.
While acknowledging the foundation laid by his predecessors, under whom the work of developing a Climate Action Plan and launching a Climate Change Summit began, the Governor announced that theu updated Climate Action Plan revealed that the three main areas of threat to our zero-carbon ambitions in Lagos State are energy, waste and transport (accounting for 90 percent of total greenhouse gas emission), hence the focus of the Summit.
In a message, the Minister of Environment, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar who was represented by the Controller in the Ministry, Mrs Oluwatoyin Agbenla said the Federal Government had recently approved the revised national climate change policy and appealed to all Nigerians to be mindful of the consequences of their actions on the atmosphere by reducing their carbon footprints.
Goodwill messages were ilialso received from many stakeholders and partner organisations.
Earlier in an address of welcome, the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr.Tunji Bello,said the summit which was being resuscitated after a five-year lull had in the past generated beneficial ideas.
Mr Bello said “it is our expectations that this summit will be a veritable platform to proffer solutions and way forward for a sustainable and resilient Lagos as two of our agencies, Lagos State Parks and Gardens and Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission were created as a result of the outcome of our past summits”
According to Mr Bello, the Climate Action Plan was developed to guide the state and stakeholders on the implementation of collective measures to address climate change impacts and causes through adaptation, mitigation and other measures.
The Permanent Secretary, Office of Evironmental Services, Mrs Belinda Odeneye who highlighted measures already put in place by the State Government to ensure a sustainable environment, said the CAP would be implemented over the next five years up to 2030 and 2050.
The two day Climate Change Summit has as its theme: “Adapting Health, Energy, Agriculture, Transport and Waste Infrastructure to Long Term Impacts of Climate Change in Lagos”
RADIO NIGERIA