Thomas Schneider, the Consul General of Switzerland in Lagos believes the solution to Africa’s climate change relies in international cooperation and technological innovation advancement.
He made this known at the 10th edition of the West African clean energy & environment trade fair & conference (WACEE) 2022, themed “Catalysing Sustainable Investments” in Lagos.
“Global challenges require global solutions,” Schnieder said at the evernt. “They require international cooperation as much as technological innovation.”
WACEE aims at providing a platform for power providers, technology suppliers, investors, industry experts as well as political and economic decision-makers to ensure sustainable development of West Africa’s energy and environmental ecosystem.
“We are talking about solutions to environmental problems and the climate change crisis is a global challenge,” he said. “We can only tackle by working together,” Schneider added
The consul narrated that Covid-19 has shown the world that today’s challenges do not stop at national borders.
“They require new cooperative world governance on science and technology that can harness technological advances for inclusive development, allowing people around the world to reap the social and economic benefits,” he said.
In the same vein, Katharina Felgenhauer, delegate, AHK Nigeria said WACEE 2022, is a platform for conversations between experts, practitioners, beneficiaries, real life experiences to be exchanged and to come up with solutions that are valid, manageable, practical, and hopefully sustainable.
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“We have various exhibitors and also a variety of partner institutions that are here to discuss policies, exchange ideas on how to promote sustainable investments and a starting point of conversations for solutions that we can drive together,” Felgenhauer said.
On the other hand, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State said that the theme of the conference is appropriate and timely, as Nigeria continues to struggle with the challenges of underdevelopment.
Represented by Tunji Bello, Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources of the state, he said the government is keen to ensure a successful implementation of our national energy transition plan particularly in the industry and business sector with insufficient clean energy.
He said: “As our population keeps growing, so is the demand for clean energy. We need to look further into how to produce it.
“Clean energy will be a good way to encourage long-term investment from recyclable sources without releasing greenhouse gases,” he said. “We will need to embrace it to accelerate the pace of development and industrialisation without jeopardising the environment or compromising the prospect of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations by 2030.”
WACEE 2022 held physically for the first time in Lagos since its inception in 2012.
