We need $8bn to build a climate-resilient Lagos — Sanwo-Olu

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said that Lagos State requires the sum of $8 billion to build a climate-resilient city.

The governor of Lagos said this on Wednesday while addressing participants at a side event organised at the Nigeria pavilion at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Sanwo-Olu, who gave a virtual address, noted that the $100 billion pledge for climate finance by developed countries to assist developing countries had not been fulfilled.

He said that the hindrances to this money being released, namely planning and political will, have been addressed by the Lagos State government.

One such plan, according to him, was the Lagos Climate Action Plan under which Lagos aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Sanwo-Olu said the existence of a plan by the Lagos State government was a demonstration of political will.

He said that with the state’s climate action plan, his government would build resilient infrastructure, protect vulnerable groups in society and anticipate and improve its response to the crisis if it occurs.

“The state of Lagos has taken courageous measures to mitigate the effects of climate change on the metropolis. Lagos is the only state in Nigeria that has prepared and initiated the execution of a Climate Action Plan. This Plan outlined 26 efforts covering adaptation and mitigation actions to build a sustainable low-carbon economy in pursuit of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“Since then, we have taken an evidence-based approach to understand the impacts of climate change on Lagos and have estimated over $30 billion of socioeconomic losses due to impacts on lives, loss of livelihoods, and infrastructure damage; this impact is more than 10 times the city’s budget for the year 2022.

“In response to these climate concerns, we have decided to construct a portfolio of initiatives with the following objectives: build resilient infrastructures and public spaces, ensure resilient communities and protect vulnerable groups, and predict risk and improve crisis response.

“We predict that our portfolio of climate resilience initiatives will require over $8 billion in grants, low-cost public funds, and commercial investments to support our resilience journey. The investments will allow us to complete our adaptation planning, execute feasibility studies on projects requiring them, and initiate the implementation of projects that are ready to be implemented.”

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