Lagos vows to protect coastline, tackle climate risks

The Lagos State Government has reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the state’s coastline and building sustainable infrastructure to tackle the effects of climate change.

This was disclosed by the spokesperson for the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Kunle Adesina, in a statement on Monday.

According to the statement, the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, restated the commitment while representing the state at the ongoing United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France.

Wahab stated that Lagos, as a coastal state, faced multiple climate threats, including rising sea levels, extreme rainfall, and excessive heat.

Lagos, as a coastal state, faces severe climate risks from rising sea levels, extreme rainfall and excessive heat.

But we are not sitting back. We are building resilient infrastructure.

“As a state, we must face our realities and those realities are that we must build resilient infrastructure which is key and we must also take ownership of those infrastructures, which is very key,” the commissioner added

Wahab disclosed that the state had cleared primary and secondary drainage channels all year round to reduce the risk of flooding, adding that 76km of trapezoidal drainage systems were constructed in the last two years.

He also addressed the state’s waste management reforms, revealing that Lagos generated over 13,000 tonnes of waste daily and was shifting from a linear disposal model to a circular economy.

He added, ”In the last two years, we have chosen to categorise waste as a resource, so we have transitioned from a pick and dump system to a more sustainable climate climate-friendly system where waste is now a resource for wealth, a resource for energy; where waste is not just seen as waste anymore.”