… As stakeholders want increased advocacy to tackle climate change
The Lagos State government has said it was imperative for businesses and firms to enact policies that encourage the circular economy and sustainable economic growth.
The government also implores firms to seek transformative investment opportunities in climate finance and green innovation.
Titilayo Oshodi, the Special Adviser on Climate Change and Circular Economy to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, stated this at the EcoNexus 2.0, organised by her office, in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget.
The EcoNexus is a transformative initiative aimed at reinforcing Lagos State’s commitment to sustainable economic growth and climate action.
The forum with the theme: “Toward Greener Profitable Businesses”, was held in Onikan, Lagos.
Oshodi noted that through EcoNexus, the state aims to promote a circular economy that benefits everyone, especially women and vulnerable communities.
Read also: Waste-to-wealth: Growing Africa’s circular economy landscape
She pointed out that it was imperative to build a new economy, where sustainability is no longer a cost, which would make Lagos the blueprint for what it means to profit with purpose.
“Let us not underestimate the significance of this moment. With every ocean cookstove distributed, we reduce our carbon footprint.
“These are the questions EcoNexus dares to answer.
Promoting a circular economy that benefits everyone, especially women and vulnerable communities.
“Improve health outcomes, and catalyse small businesses within the renewable energy value chain”.
She noted that it was imperative that the private sector be incorporated into the processes and conversation on circular economy and climate change.
“This conversation is really geared toward the private sector; it is geared toward the access to funding”.
In his keynote address title: ‘From Climate Risk to Green Prosperity: Financing Nigeria’s Future Through Compliance Carbon Markets’, Tunde Lemo, Chairman of Lambeth Capital/Titan Trust Bank, said carbon is no longer a by-product of pollution control, but a regulated financeable asset class through the United Nation-backed Paris agreement mechanism.
Lemo pointed out that Africa can earn a compliance grade, certified carbon emission reduction units exportable to the global north seeking ESG-aligned solutions.
The former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) argues that Nigeria must recognise carbon as a high-value, export-grade commodity.
He stressed that such can serve as a source of foreign exchange for the country, noting that there was a need for the country to diversify its sources of income.
According to him, Nigeria, with its diversity, can lead the carbon market in Nigeria, thereby creating jobs for its citizens.
“Carbon is no longer a by-product of pollution control. It is now a regulated, financeable asset class. Nigeria can lose reliance on oil by institutionalising carbon”, he said.
Lemo further pointed out that there was a need for governments at all levels to take deliberate action to deal with climate change and environmental challenges in the country.
Also speaking, the Director of External Affairs, British American Tobacco (BAT) West and Central Africa, Odiri Erewa-Meggison, said sustainability was now the centre of all the firm’s operations, noting that BAT was now transforming its business from tobacco to less harmful products.
The Director of External Affairs pointed out that since 2024, the firm had partnered with small businesses to recycle products, stressing that about twenty percent of what is used in the production process has been recycled.
“As of 2024, all our sites have partnered with small businesses to recycle products, and we have recycled 20 percent of what is used in our production process.
“We are on track to recycle twenty percent of renewable electricity across our Nigerian operations by 2030. Our factor is a big testimony to this. We generate our energy”, she said.
Read also: Government needs to incentivise businesses to adopt circular economy models – Runsewe
Adebola Shabi, lawmaker from the Lagos State House of Assembly, said there was a need to engage in advocacy on the issue of climate change and carbon emission to Nigerians, especially among the youth.
Shabi, who is the chairman of the House Committee on Environment, kicked against the dumping of plastic on the ocean and rivers, saying that oftentimes, such materials are fed by fish, which in the long run is consumed by man, which eventually causes cancer.
According to him, “The issue of plastic started in 2011. Many of us felt that with plastic you can make money, but plastic causes a lot of damage to our health.
“When plastic is washed into the water, the living organism feeds on this, and this finds itself back in human beings. In the long run, this is cancerous, which comes back to us. That is why you see young people having cancer now”.
At the event, policy leaders in the private and public sectors called for increased advocacy and deliberate actions that would reduce the effects of climate change and the carbon emission challenge in Nigeria.
