Bankers lament environmental degradation, seek sustainable solutions

Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles (NSBP), Champion group, has stressed the need for environmental sustainability nationwide.
To change the narrative, the coalition of bankers and financial institutions, embarked on an environmental walk, tagged: “A walk for nature” to sensitise communities to the pros and cons of waste dumping and how it affects the environment.

The walk was also in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of NSBP, which was established by Central Bank of Nigeria.

Sustainability Manager, Polaris Bank, Omoniyepe Ajose-Adeogun, commended government for the implementation of policies in the fight against environmental hazards, thus far.

According to her, sensitising underprivileged and undeveloped communities will curb risks associated with environmental hazards. She added that government should accept opportunities for private investors to make contributions to the industry.

According to Adeogun the focus of the event is to ensure that communities enjoy good environment and become environmentally conscious.

“The high point of this event is to get all banks in Nigeria to share ideas that will make our environment better,” she said.
Lead Communications, First Securities Discount House Limited (FSDH) Group, Babatunde Adenuga, stressed the need to safeguard nature, as a crucial aspect of life.

He said the move is part of the commitment to give the community a better understanding of how the environment should be, saying: “This is one of our commitments to helping people see that the earth matters and our consciousness about the things that relate to environment is important at this time.”

On plans for continuity, Sustainability Officer, Wema Bank PLC, Oluwatoyin Adetunji, said: “Over the course of the next few months, we will be having initiatives to foster environmentally-conscious awareness across society.”
NSBP also expressed concern over high rate of plastic waste.

The Sustainable Finance Associate at Access Corporation, Kosiso Iwugo, lamented that many plastic wastes are in the ocean, posing threat to the society.

This sanitation at Lafiaji beach, according to her, is to protect the environment, protect marine life, address the issues of biodiversity loss and raise awareness on climate change, especially on the importance of having clean beaches.

She encouraged residents to use less plastic where possible.

“If there are other alternatives to plastic, be it paper bags that you can use to pack or to store items, you don’t always have to use plastic because plastic takes a very long while to decay and that’s bad for the environment, it’s bad for the ocean so we are encouraging a lot of people to do that,” Iwugo said.

Also, the principal Plogga, Plogging Nigeria, Sodiq Jinad said: “Unarguably the problem of plastic pollution is a multifaceted problem in the sense that it requires a multi-prong approach in order to address it.”

Mobile crane operator and volunteer, Omotara Olajumoke, emphasised the importance of influencing people’s behaviour.