Lagos State Government has sought the Federal Government’s collaboration on how to reduce the effect of climate change.
Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment, Tunji Bello, who made this call, expressed dissatisfaction with the Federal Government’s handlingly of the issue.
He said climate change effects went beyond territorial boundaries and as such, the Federal Government must create more awareness on global warming.
He said: “Nigeria is vulnerable to Climate Change and the impact are already manifesting in the country. We find must find a solution to it now because of the future generations of our country.’’
Bello said the state government would develop a work-plan on solutions proffered at the summit to help in achieving set goal.
In his address, Governor Babatunde Fashola said mankind’s biggest war is the war against climate change-induced natural disaster.
For mankind to survive, he said: “We need to change the way we do some things, slow down the way we do some others and stop doing others altogether. Regrettably, however, the unending desecration of our environment by man and the negative consequences of climate change have taught us that it is now necessary to re-examine our relationship with the environment.”
He advocated the need to rise and wish away all unfriendly practices, such as the elimination of green areas, discharge of dangerous gases into the atmosphere, indiscriminate felling of trees, among others etc.
Fashola noted that the green economy is where growth in income and employment is driven by the public investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy, resource efficiency as well as prevent the loss of bio and ecosystem.
Sierra Leone’s former Minister for Energy and a Member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Prof. Ogunlade Davidson elaborated on the evidence and consequences of climate change in Africa with emphasis on the continent’s vulnerability to the impact of climate change in agriculture, biodiversity, energy, water resources and infrastructure.
Davodson, who presented the keynote address with the theme Climate change vulnerability and adaptation in Africa: Need for sustainable development strategies, said unless appropriate mitigation and adaptation measures are put in place, Africa will continue to be vulnerable to climate-induced extreme events.
He emphasised on the need for Africa to properly identify and exploit opportunities for green economic growth and sustainable development that are increasingly becoming available in the global fight against climate change.
He harped on the need for Africa to put in place regional, institutional, technological and market mechanisms that will enable the continent to advance its development on the path of climate-resilient, green and sustainable path.
He stressed that unless appropriate mitigation and adaptation measures are put in place, Africa will continue to be vulnerable to climate-induced extreme events. The paper emphasised the need for Africa to properly identify and exploit opportunities for green economic growth and sustainable development that are increasingly becoming available in the global fight against climate change.
It harped on the need for Africa to put in place regional, institutional, technological and market mechanisms that will enable the continent to advance its development on the path of climate-resilient, green and sustainable path.
The summit in its communiqué recommended that the government at all levels should properly mainstream climate change into its infrastructural development for resilience and sustainability. It also urged the Federal Government to provide for the private sector an enabling environment to aggressively pursue climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives in the interest of green development.
Lagos State Government was asked to ensure a multi-disciplinary approach to the planning, design, construction and management of urban infrastructure to make the urban infrastructure climate-resilient.