Lagos State to benefit from £15 million UKAID climate action fund

Lagos State Government has signed up to the £15 million UKAID climate action implementation programme aimed at supporting cities to accelerate implementation from their Climate Action Plans (CAPs).

The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, disclosed this in Lagos, yesterday, while declaring open the state’s ninth international climate change two-day summit, with the theme, “Integrating climate actions in Lagos State Development: Opportunities and Trade-offs.”

Sanwo-Olu said that the grant, awarded by the United Kingdom (UK) Government (Future Cities Nigeria) to the Lagos State Waterways Authority, would improve the ferry services across the state, which will further support efforts to provide a truly multi-modal transport network for Lagos, with consequent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with road transportation.

The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Kadri Hamzat, also disclosed plan to float a N20 billion green bond in September.

This, he said, was part of mainstreaming and integration of climate action into the state’s growth strategies, investment plans and institutional structures for mobilisation of public and private sector financing to achieve “net-zero.”

Besides, he said that under his watch, the government would have constant discussion with the private sector, development partners and donor organisations to find solutions and ways to better adapt to climate impact, with special emphasis on protecting women, children and people with disabilities.

In his remarks, Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tunji Bello, said Lagos is the only state in the country that has developed and commenced implementation of her climate action plan in Nigeria.

The plan, he said, highlighted 26 initiatives across adaptation and mitigation actions to advance a sustainable low carbon economy in the quest to achieve net-zero by 2050.

In his lead paper, titled: “Financing Transformative Climate Actions for Lagos State,” Director, Centre for Climate and Development, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Nigeria, Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke, said that capacity and institutional-related challenges were the greatest barrier for African countries to raising climate finance.

According to him, recent data indicates that $2.3 billion has been approved for 453 projects and programmes throughout sub-Saharan Africa since 2003, while only 45 per cent of approved funding is delivered for adaptation measures. He, therefore, stressed the need for radical transformative action to decrease emission in all sectors.