Ministry of The Environment, LAWMA, LASEPA and other relevant agencies have proven to be alive to the responsibility of protecting the environment through their various activities of appropriate policy formulation, policy propagation and policy compliance monitoring.
Carbon Pollution Reduction is the cheapest and most eff ective way of tackling climate change . It is important that Lagos reduce its carbon pollution to minimize the severity of climate change. However, because some greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere for about 100 years after they are fi rst emitted, there will be some changes that cannot be avoided due to past and inevitable future global emissions.
Attention to industrial wastes, community solid wastes, beautification schemes by the Ministry of Environment, LAWMA, LASEPA are notable but there is also the need for building community resilience and providing sound information periodically to improve the eco consciousness of our people.
Virile environment related agencies should identify six priority areas for action: water, coasts, infrastructure, natural ecosystems, natural disaster management, and agriculture. Climate change will have consequences such as more frequent and more extreme weather events like continued decline in rainfall; and higher temperatures leading to decreases in water supplies. Ministry of Environment, LAWMA, LASEPA and other relevant agencies must take action now to prepare for these impacts. Expected actions include changing the way buildings and infrastructure are designed, diversifying the water supplies in our cities, improving our water use, rethinking the way we develop vulnerable coastal areas, or planting more drought-tolerant crops.
The decisions authorities make today about infrastructure, health, water management, agriculture, biodiversity and housing will have lasting consequences for our children and future generations. By considering the future climate when making these decisions Lagos will be in a better position to deal with the unavoidable impacts of climate changes.
Making informed decisions.
Ministry of Th e Environment, LAWMA, LASEPA and other relevant agencies are making important contributions to building state-wide understanding of the causes of climate change and its impact on the environment while supporting activities aimed at helping the people to better understand climate change and its potential impact on Lagos’s natural and managed systems.
Supporting business to take action.
Ministry of The Environment, LAWMA, LASEPA and other relevant agencies should be helping businesses take action to reduce their emissions, through the energy efficiency of Lagos’s buildings and the manufacturing process of our industries, while also helping businesses commercialize products and services that address climate change. They should also recognize the importance of training Lagosians to be ready to join the new clean industries and take up the new greencollar jobs of the future. Supporting households to take action.
Lagosian households are directly responsible for about a fifth of Lagos’s carbon pollution. Households and individuals have an important role to play in combating climate change. Th e Government should invest in helping Lagosians change the way they act to help reduce carbon pollution. Helping households to ‘go green’ by providing homes with information that will help them improve the energy and water efficiency of their homes, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by choosing energy efficient appliances.
Th e rise in world affluence holds promise for better lives and also comes with significant risks to ecosystems if prevailing patterns of production and consumption persist. Th e need to reduce energy consumption, pollution and wastes should be the primary focus of Ministry of Th e Environment, LAWMA, LASEPA and other relevant agencies so as to manage the inevitable climate change risks .Th e floods and storms experienced recently are risk signs that demands utmost attention.
