Lagos — Between May 4 and 7, 2010, Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos State was a beehive of activities as stakeholders converged to forge the way forward for Nigeria on climate change, a phenomenon whose devastating impacts like tsunami, hurricane and others have since gained world attention.
The four-day summit was hosted by Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola and co-hosted by Governors from the six geopolitical zones of the country. They were Alhaji Namadi Sambo (Kaduna State, North West); Chief Theodore Orji (Abia State, South East); Comrade Adams Oshiomhole (Edo State, South South); Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff (Borno State, North East); Dr. Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo State, South West); and Dr. Babangida Aliyu (Niger State, North Central). Several other governors, including the Chairman of the Governors' Forum, Bukola Saraki (Kwara State), sent representatives. Also in attendance were Deputy Governors of Lagos and Delta states, Princess Adebisi Sarah Sosan and Prof. Amos Utuama. Minister of Environment, John Odey was also represented.
In all, 12 technical sessions were held in which various papers were delivered by experts drawn from Nigeria, United States of America (USA), Mexico, Senegal and Australia on various aspects of climate change science, vulnerability, impacts, mitigation and adaptation.
The themes focused on adapting to climate change and sharing best practices; UNIDO/Lagos State study on vulnerability analysis; adaptation to climate change and best practices; mitigation strategies for low carbon economy; financing for climate change mitigation activities; partnerships and collaboration for combating climate change; shipwreck and coastal erosion; post-Copenhagen and Mexico 2010 and climate change, Lagos State/World Health Organisation (WHO) partnership.
Prof. Babajide Alo presented a position paper written by Prof. O. R. Davidson, the Sierra Leonean Minister of Energy and Vice-President of IPCC, entitled "Global Climate Change: Challenges and Prospects after Copenhagen" while by Prof. A. O. Omigbodun of the University of Ibadan delivered a paper on "Climate Change and Public Health".
The governors outlined the impacts of climate change on their respective states and ongoing initiatives to tackle the problems. They all emphasised environmental degradation, erosion, flooding and desertification among other challenges, as the impacts of climate change on their respective states.
A consensus reached at the end of the Governors' panel discussion which was moderated by CNN correspondent, Brent Sadler, included: that climate change is real and already affecting the development efforts of the states, and even capable of reversing some of the gains that the states have made in their development efforts, all stakeholders (government, private sector, civil society and communities) at all levels must be involved in tackling the problem; the need to increase the ecological fund and make it more accessible to the states in order to enable them to address the challenge of climate change and that governors should continue to be drivers and agents of change by sharing best practices and raising public awareness and embarking on environment friendly initiatives among others.
Various observations also emanated from the summit. These were that: in terms of climate change impacts and vulnerability, there are similarities between Mexico City, New York City and Lagos, thus there is a lot that Lagos could learn from the Climate Change Action Plans of the two cities; while there are still some scientific gaps in the knowledge about climate change, current evidence about the reality of the problem are enough for policymakers to take decisions. Others were that: responding to today's weather and climate hazards will help states to prepare for climate change risk in the future, and increase resilience generally; planning can lessen the negative impacts of climate change and increase the positive impacts; that the most cost-effective and the most efficient climate change adaptation strategies are often low technology and that understanding of climate change, its impacts and how to adapt to them remains limited.
It noted that: deforestation and other forms of environmental degradation are widespread and are resulting in the degradation of ecosystems that naturally play a moderating role in the global carbon cycle and therefore, in the climate; climate change governance in Nigeria has been weak and many existing development policies and strategies do not address the challenges of climate change; centralized energy production such as what operates in Nigeria is largely inefficient and environmentally-unfriendly.
Various recommendations also emanated from the summit. These were: the need to substantially build up emergency response capabilities, in tackling the challenges of climate change, emphasis should be given to adaptation strategies that are low-technologically inclined, particularly those that are targeted at the most vulnerable members of society, Lagos state should partner with Mexico City and New York City in developing a climate change plan of action, the state should partner with relevant stakeholders for the collection of meteorological, sea level, tidal, coastal sediment budget, shoreline change, land use and other socio-economic data in order to put climate change scenario modelling, mitigation and adaptation on a sound scientific foundation.
Others include that: Lagos State should commission research into possible health-related climate change impacts and should focus on health promotion through education and other measures, the state climate change plan of action should take into account sea level rise of over one metre and storm surges of over two metres by 2100, Nigeria in general and Lagos State in particular should further explore and tap into sources of funding that are available within the framework of the UNFCCC for financing climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Also recommended were that; in order to access multilateral and bilateral funding for climate change mitigation and adaptation activities, Lagos State should put effort into scientific costing of its mitigation and adaptation activities, in the context of climate change, the water resources of the state should be managed within an integrated framework in the interest of coverage, quality and service delivery as well as that government should promote broad stakeholder awareness of the need for a low carbon economy and what can be done to transit to green cities, green communities, green landscapes, green industries, green transportation etc.
