The Second Five-Year Plan 2020-2025 is an updated action
document succeeding the 2015 Climate Change Policy and Action Plan adopted by
Lagos after the landmark Paris Climate Change Conference, which encapsulated
the State’s vision for achieving a zero-carbon Lagos.
Sanwo-Olu, on Tuesday, launched the new action plan at the
8th Lagos State International Climate Change Summit organised by the Ministry
of the Environment and Water Resources at Lagos Continental Hotel, Victoria
Island.
The theme of the two-day event is: “Adapting Health, Energy,
Agriculture, Transportation and Waste Infrastructure to the Long Term Impacts
of Climate Change in Lagos.”
With the new document, the State Government will be
responding to prevailing issues threatening the realisation of zero-carbon
ambition, which are energy use, waste management and transport.
They account for 90 per cent of total greenhouse gas
emission in Lagos. The summit also focuses on the relationship between climate
change and delivery of critical infrastructure transportation, agriculture and
healthcare sectors.
Sanwo-Olu said the increased impacts of natural disasters
felt across the world in the past year showed that climate change was no longer
a speculative danger, but a real, phenomenal threat to humanity and safety of
the environment.
Given the State’s topography and proximity to the Atlantic
Ocean, the Governor said Lagos is vulnerable to adverse events resulting from
natural causes.
This, he said, prompted his administration to update the
action plan to facilitate proactive response and clear strategy in mitigating
the effects on global warming on the environment and the State economy.
He said: “This summit is an opportunity for us to present
new Lagos State Climate Action Plan to the world. Painstaking effort has gone
into it, and we are proud that we have been able to come up with a document
that has robust plan for the environment.
We have successfully updated the climate change action
document adopted by Lagos in 2015 to reflect the targets and goals of the Paris
Climate Change Agreement. The final product is the ‘Lagos Climate Action Plan:
Second Five-year Plan 2020- 2025.
“The updated Climate Action Plan reveals three main areas of
threat to our zero-carbon ambition in Lagos, which are energy, waste and
transport. They account for 90 per cent of our total greenhouse gas emission.
We are now more adept at incorporating climate-friendly
thinking into everything we do as a Government. Our goal is to entrench the
action plan across the entire State, and get Lagosians imbibe the culture of
climate-awareness in their homes, workplaces and lifestyles.”
Sanwo-Olu said most of the projects being undertaken by his
administration were to address climate change and fast-track attainment of the
zero-carbon goal in transportation, healthcare, energy, agriculture and waste
management.
He said his Government’s public transport reform sought to
reduce number of personal vehicles on the roads, by providing alternative
transportation model in form of low-emission buses and rail connections.
The State Government, Sanwo-Olu pointed out, has adopted
composting, recycling and waste-to-energy as part of the strategies to improve
the quality of waste management in Lagos.
In the energy sector, Sanwo-Olu said the Government would be
rolling out opportunities in usage of off-grid solar systems to connect public
schools, hospitals, government offices and public facilities.
He added that the State was looking into the exploring
option of incentives to homes to move from fossil fuel generators to solar
systems.
He said: “Lagos has been outstanding in the annual
environmental reporting on the global disclosure system by the CDP, an
international non-profit that measures the commitments of investors, companies,
cities, states and regions to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. For
three consecutive years, Lagos has emerged with a B score, which is well above
the African and Global average score. This annual reporting has helped us
greatly in understanding where we are and what still needs to be done.”
The Governor thanked his predecessors for laying the
foundation of developing climate action plan, paving the way for consolidation
by his administration.
Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr.
Tunji Bello, said the summit, since inception in 2009, had become a melting pot
for researchers, investors, academicians and stakeholders in the environment
and economic sectors to take unified decisions.
Bello praised Sanwo-Olu for bringing back the climate
summit, five years after the event was held.
He said: “Around the world, Governments and businesses are
planning for climate instability. From flood defences to foreign aid, climate
change is now part of policy and public discussions.
The theme of this summit cannot be more apt than now because
we have reached a point where Lagos needs to be intentional on projects and
programmes that will be climate change compliant.”
Consul General of Switzerland Embassy, Thomas Schneider,
congratulated Lagos on the unveiling of the climate change action plan, noting
that effects of environmental problems knew no borders.
The envoy stressed that the call for action must be
reinforced, given the significant impacts, which degradation of agricultural
land has had on global food security.
He reiterated the commitment of Switzerland to international
conventions and protocols on climate change in its bilateral dealings with
Lagos.
The updated action plan was attended by the Deputy Governor,
Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, Speaker of House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa and
members of the State Executive Council.
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