To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Lagos State Government has been called to maximise the use of her waterways for mass transportation and sustained development. The call was contained in a 16-point communiqué and recommendations from the state’s 9th Climate Change Summit, with the theme: “Integrating climate actions in Lagos State Development: Opportunities and Trade-offs”. The two-day summit, which held at the Continental Hotel, Victoria Island, was aimed at finding solutions and ways to better adapt to climate impact, with special emphasis on protecting women, children and people with disabilities. According to the recommendations ratified by the summit, the Lagos State government was asked to consider the adoption of the G20 Quality Infrastructure Investment (QII) Principles that enable Cities create a strong foundation for achieving sustainable, resilient and inclusive growth, organise dialogue sessions with the private sector to map out strategies for climate finance in the State and put in place Action Plan with a robust legal framework to ensure food security in the state.

The state as a sub-national was to engage the Federal Government to develop mechanisms for accessing Green Fund as well as embrace the integration of the value of natural capital into Urban Planning and Development in Lagos. The summit also called on governments at all levels (Federal, State and Local) to put in place funding mechanisms for easy access to renewable energy, with Lagos State playing a lead role with her huge energy requirements as well as create the required platform for involvement of youths in the implementation of climate actions in the state, through youth-focused programmes. Other recommendations, include that Lagos State should integrate considerations for green building and energy efficiency in the domestication of the National Building Code; accelerate efforts at issuing its first green bond to facilitate investment to climate change response; explore the opportunities of using fiscal instruments including carbon taxes to raise funds for climate financing and do more for infrastructure development to have dedicated greener corridors as it speaks to the minds of citizens. The private sector, in particular Oando Clean Energy was also asked to support Lagos State in establishing and financing a training institute for development of technical human power for the green job economy, while the state should promote Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) as a panacea for addressing Climate Change induced food insecurity. Earlier, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had expressed the urgent need to tackle the issue of climate change, stressing that 555 hectares of land within Victoria Island would have disappeared into the Atlantic Ocean since 2010, without some resolutions that emanated from previous climate change summits.