The Lagos Office of Climate Change & Circular Economy (OCCE) and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) will be working together to address the rising threat of climate change in the state. The two government entities also agree to harness the opportunities within the climate change ecosystem to institutionalize circular economy to create jobs and contribute to the state’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP.

Speaking during a courtesy call on the management of LAMATA, Titi Oshodi, the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Climate Change and Circular Economy, said Climate Change poses a severe threat to the well-being and economy of Lagos state. She noted the Energy sector of the state is the highest contributor to the emission of Green House Gas in Lagos, “so it is fundamental that this ministry is one of our first areas of call for us. And we are extremely delighted with the open arms of the honourable commissioner and his team”, she added.

The Lagos State Climate Action Plan 2020 – 2025 showed that more than half of Lagos’s 21 million residents live in informal settlements, which renders them highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Furthermore, Oshodi noted that the Lagos State Adaptation and Resilience Plan (LCARP) estimated the effects of climate inaction at $22-29 billion, 11 times the state’s 2022 annual budget.

“These are real numbers. Half of 21 million Lagos residents and 11 times our state’s 2022 budget are at risk. So we have to look for ways to rein in this menace. So that’s why, for us at OCCE, what we are doing is first touching base with major actors and sharing our plans with them. And our plan is straightforward. Lack of education is a major gap between the government and the people and their roles regarding climate change. Our plan is to bridge that gap using various advocacy platform and education channels that we are creating. We are ready to work with all stakeholders to ease their works and accelerate their impact through climate change education and advocacy”.

“On the other hand, Climate Change and its impact are not all bad news. They also hold huge economic opportunities for job creation and revenue generation. In fact, the revenue opportunities, according to the Nigerian Green Manufacturing Report 2022 projects, could be worth 2.7 billion dollars by 2030. So we are here in the ministry to see how much of that we can harness for the people, businesses and government of our state’, she enthused.

Responding during the visit, Mr Biodun Ogunleye, Honourable Commission for Energy and Mineral Resources, thanked the OCCE delegation and expressed the ministry’s readiness to collaborate with the OCCE to institutionalize circularity and clean energy. He furthered that the ministry will also be willing to work with OCCE to provide data and technical support to accelerate its advocacy programmes.