7 LAGOS STATE CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT COMMUNIQUE
Transcription
7 LAGOS STATE CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT COMMUNIQUE
7thLAGOS STATE CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT COMMUNIQUE PREAMBLE The 7th Lagos State Summit on Climate Change was held from 21st -23rd April, 2015 at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos with the theme: 7 Years of Climate Change Governance in Lagos State, Celebrating Success Stories, Reviewing Challenges and Setting Future Agenda. The summit which was partly sponsored by Total Nigeria PLC, British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF), MRS OIL had in attendance over 700 participants and stakeholders, comprising top political office holders, traditional rulers, top Government functionaries at the State and Local Government levels, members of the academia, organised private sectors, national and international experts on climate change, non-governmental organisations, students from the universities and secondary schools etc. OPENING CEREMONY The Summit commenced with a welcome address by the Honourable Commissioner Lagos State Ministry of the Environment, Mr Tunji Bello. This was followed by goodwill messages given by the Deputy British High Commissioner; Consular General Federal Republic of Germany, Netherlands High Commissioner; President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN); representative of Policy Advocacy Partnership Project on Climate Change (PAPPCC); and the Regional Director for Africa C40 CITIES Climate Leadership Group. The lead paper titled Climate Change Governance Challenges and Opportunities was delivered by Prof. Richard Beardsworth, Director of Research Department on International Politics Aberystwyth University, United Kingdom. He emphasised the importance of purposeful leadership in having an 1 effective global response to the challenge of climate change as a global common. While declaring the Summit open, His Excellency, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), the Governor of Lagos State, noted that the summit will be the last for his administration. He acknowledged the contributions of the immediate past and present Honourable Commissioners for the Environment, staff of the Ministry and various stakeholders who stood with the Government for the past seven (7) years. He noted that since 2009 the climate change summit has been a principal vehicle for attracting required attention to environmental challenges of our time. He further stressed the need for mankind to reflect on the threat posed by the continuous exponential growth of the world population to the sustainable exploitation and use of natural resources. He then highlighted the achievements made by the State Government in the past seven (7) years in mitigating the effects of climate change. Most of the State Government’s actions emerged from the outcomes of the Summits. Some of these include: (a) the Eko Atlantic City Project as an adaptation measures against climate change-induced sea level rise; (b) improved Waste Management and Transportation; (c) the Lagos, Akute and Alausa Independent Power Projects which are gas fired and which lead to the decommissioning of over four hundred diesel fuelled electricity generators; (d) planting of over 5 million trees; (e) creation of over one hundred Parks and Gardens across the State; and (f) establishment of the Lagos State Parks and Garden Agency (LASPARK), among others. The Special Adviser to the State Government on the Environment, Dr. Taofeek Folami, gave the vote of thanks TECHNICAL SESSIONS In the Eight Technical Plenary Sessions which followed the Opening Ceremony, the following 26 papers were delivered by experts invited from Nigeria, Scotland, UK, France, USA, South Africa, Canada, Egypt, and Cameroon. The papers covered different aspects of celebrating success stories, reviewing challenges and setting future agenda. The papers included: 2 i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x. xi. xii. xiii. xiv. xv. xvi. xvii. xviii. xix. xx. xxi. xxii. xxiii. xxiv. xxv. xxvi. Post COP 20 Peru Climate Change Conference; implications for Developing Economy Climate Change Governance, Challenges and Opportunities (Lead paper); Sharing Innovative Solutions in Climate Change Mitigation in Africa; GPC and the Compact of Mayors; From Waste to Wealth; Sharing PPP-Public, Private Partnership Experience in Establishing and Operating Material Recovery Facility in a Developing Economy; The Lagos State Transportation Policy and Climate Change Mitigation and Opportunities; Mass transportation: the Panacea for Climate Change Mitigation in a Developing Economy; Public Transportation : Role in Responding to Climate Change; Adopting Green Business for Sustainability Engaging Corporate Lagos; Climate Change Mitigation: The Role of Financial Institutions; Environmental Sustainability in the Extractive Industry: The Case for Climate Mitigation; 7 years of Carbon Sequestration: The story of Tree Planting in Lagos State; REDD+ Country Model: Exploring Opportunity for Lagos; Building resilience to Climate Change Impacts: BATNF and small scale farmers at the frontline; African Coastal Cities Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Planning: Current Status and Future Plans; Climate Change Policy and Sustainable Development; Community Energy as a Vehicle for Sustainable Development and Combating Climate Change; Offshore Energy for Sustainable Development in Lagos State; Turning Liability into Assets: Taming the Challenges of Sea Level Rise into a Vibrant City. The making of Eko Atlantic City; Lagos State Master Plan: Sustaining the Built Environment; Creating Resilient City; Energy Poverty in Nigeria: Facts and Fiction) Renewable Energy Solution to Climate Change/Solar Energy Solution for Public Schools; Developing Entrepreneurial Skills in Renewable Energy Potentials in Nigeria. From a practical Stand point; Total Nigeria: Bringing Solar Solutions to Nigeria; Local Urban Climate in Lagos (LUCIL); 3 There were also three breakout sessions during the Summit. These were on: i. Financial and Investment Models and Opportunities for Climate Change Mitigation; ii. Technology and Sustainable Innovations in Climate Change Mitigation; iii. Considerations for Capacity Building, Research and Policy Interventions; Each group deliberated extensively on their respective Subthemes as delineated above and had outcomes of recommendations for Future Agenda. OBSERVATIONS: From the papers that were delivered, the Summit made the following observations: i. Climate change is a global common problem in which all states and people are involved as they are all affected irrespective of the sources of GHGs. ii. Addressing the fundamenta challenge of climate change for sustainable development and human survival is borne out of the concern that “nature does not need people, people need nature” (IUCN). iii. Sustainability is a new direction for firms to effectively and profitability show-case their environmental consciousness. iv. There are many opportunities in the future of sustainable development that is imperative for human existence and survival. v. Green economy makes a lot of business sense and going green is a profitable business. It also provides new opportunity for global cooperation in the area of promoting energy mix, including renewables, for sustainable socio-economic and environmental development. vi. Our civilizational challenges provide an opportunity to transiting to green economic development path. 4 vii. Lagos, as a coastal city, is highly vulnerable to the impact of climate change. viii. Rapid and unguided urbanization, poor institutionalization of public mass transportation with unsatisfactory commuter/freight demand are responsible for rapidly growing use of private vehicles in Lagos. ix. Mass transit is a key panacea to the provision of functional transportation system in Lagos State in the face of rapid rate population growth and the desire of dwellers to own their own motor vehicles. x. Tree planting is an effective mitigation measure for reducing the impact of climate change. Urban reforestation, in particular, is a laudable approach to improving carbon sequestration of urban areas and mitigating climate change-induced urban heat island. xi. Climate proofing agriculture and its resilience to variations in climate is critical for sustainable food security in the state. xii. There are a number of research opportunities in climate change that could support the state in its pursuit of sustainable development. xiii. Research outputs are not properly disseminated to policy makers for appropriate decisions. xiv. Sectoral research approach to climate change issues remain the order of the day. xv. Civil Society organizations have been active in advocating the imperative for coherent state and national responses to climate change. xvi. Eko Atlantic City Project is potentially an effective adaptive response to mitigate the impact of climate change on the coastal city, Lagos, 5 and the use of only private sector resources for the execution of the Project is an innovative way to ensure its sustainability. xvii. Effective town planning is critical to sustainable urban development and making cities climate resilient. xviii. Absence of a legally binding policy and action plan on climate change at the state level is of concern. RECOMMENDATIONS The Summit made the following recommendations: i. Government should continue to invest in climate change to promote environmental sustainability and assured future for human existence in the State. ii. Lagos as mega city must commit to addressing greenhouse gas emissions reduction; including introducing Controlled Parking Zones to deter the use of private vehicles and establishment of carbon registry to monitory GHG emission levels, among others. iii. Lagos State should further enlarge its mass transit programme to transit it into an integrated, coordinated and functional public mass transport system, complimentary road furniture’s and a comprehensive urban transport policy driven by empirical research study. iv. Urban development should be controlled through appropriate measures that will reduce dependency on motorised vehicles and reduce the increasing need for urban infrastructure. v. Lagos State should continue to showcase the benefits of its tree planting initiative, as a climate change mitigation and adaptation measures to other parts of the country. vi. The State should look into the feasibility of enriching its remaining forest areas in the context of REED+ to create financial value for 6 carbon stored in forest, address the drivers of deforestation, enhance its carbon sequestration for climate change mitigation, and even provide additional means of livelihoods for the concerned communities. vii. The State should develop a climate change information management system in which all research outputs are catalogued and widely disseminated on a regular basis. viii. Technology should be put in place to reduce GHG emissions from waste in the State. ix. Youths should be encouraged and involved in the development of climate change mitigation technology. x. The State should pursue a strategic alignment with the private corporate organizations in the State in its fight against climate change and promote research, development, demonstration and deployment (RDD&D), particularly in the development of technological response to the challenge. xi. Government should put into place a positive innovative, policy environment and strengthen existing regulatory framework, including tax incentives and governance mechanisms which will promote public and private investment in climate change mitigation projects in Lagos state xii. Lagos State Green Fund (inspired by the Lekki Free Trade Zone) should be created to leverage funding from all sources – state, federal, bilateral and multilateral financial institutions - to promote green employment generation, investment, and innovation xiii. The State should establish a Lagos Green Eco-Innovation Forum that will be mandated to spearhead efforts to promote and intensify Nigeria’s (and African) efforts to meet Climate Change targets and goals through entrepreneurship and philanthropy. xiv. The State should create a capacity building and mentorship training programme to assist associations to have access to funding 7 opportunities , and to intensify links and networks with institutions that have expertise in climate change mitigation xv. The State should consider establishing a one day workshop in addition to a more structured long term mechanism for ensuring financing institutions play a more active role in climate change mitigation funding xvi. Governments at all levels (Federal, State and Local) should fund multi-sectoral research on climate change mitigation and adaptation to enhance people’s understanding of the challenge and improve their ability to exploit opportunities offered by technological responses to climate change mitigation and adaptation. xvii. Lagos State should explore the feasibility of facilitating a national summit on climate change, in collaboration with the Federal Government, to share its best mitigation and adaptation practices and encourage other States to join the national fight against climate change. xviii. Government should continue to work closely with civil society organizations in its fight against climate change. xix. Government should continue to support the African Coastal Cities Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Planning Project towards making Lagos more resilient. xx. Relevant stakeholders should be involved on a continuous basis in the execution of the Eko Atlantic City Project to ensure sustainability. xxi. Lagos State should ensure continuity in the implementation of the model city plan within the existing legal framework to further climate proof Lagos. xxii. Lagos State Government should explore the possibilities of developing a framework for the construction of energy efficient 8 houses for both low and middle income earning residents of the State. xxiii. The government should consider the adoption of a state policy and action plan within a robust legal framework to define its future response to the development and environmental challenges of climate change, as an example of what can be done for Nigeria. xxiv. The State Government should look into the feasibility of an EnergyPoverty Alleviation Fund to help provide modern energy services to the poor and the needy in the state. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The Summit expresses its appreciation to His Excellency, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN and the Lagos State Government for continuously blazing the trail on Climate Change mitigation and adaptation strategies in Nigeria and unabating support through organising the various past Lagos State CC Summits and particularly this Seventh Summit. 9