Nigeria's Lagos State wants citizens to take on climate challenge

In November, just days before COP30 in Belém, Brazil, a delegation from Nigeria's Lagos State headed to São Paulo for a major global event hosted by Climate Action.

Led by Titilayo Oshodi, Lagos State governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu's special advisor on climate change and the circular economy, the group also featured Abimbola Akinajo, managing director of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority and Demola Ogunbanjo, CEO of Oando Clean Energy.

The goal of this public-private delegation was to highlight the growing impact and risks of climate change on Nigeria's most significant economic region - and learn from other global regions on how they are adapting to similar challenges.

Speaking to African Business, Oshodi said that Lagos State's vulnerability to droughts, flooding and heatwaves means it is on the frontline of climate change - and the state has to plan accordingly.

"That (the impetus for a climate plan) was essentially because the tide was beginning to rise very high in terms of the heat, and the impact of climate change on the members of our various communities," she explains.

Diverse state, diverse challenges

While best known as the state that plays host to Nigeria's economic capital - which has a population of an estimated 20m residents - Lagos State is more than the city that bears its name.

Home to coastal regions, agrarian areas and huge urban conglomerations, it is a test case for how climate change will be experienced across Africa. While the state constitutes only 8% of Nigeria's population, the state generates 15-30% of Nigeria's GDP and so is crucial to the nation at large.

"Lagos is the overpopulated economic capital of Nigeria," says Oshodi.

"It is a coastal city and richly populated, very diverse and multidimensional. As for the rural population, I would refer to the hinterlands that would sit across the neighbouring states. They're rural - they're not right in the heart of a city. They're very agrarian. Within the coastal areas, people's lives are dependent on the waterways, essentially for fishing."

That diversity of landscapes has led to a multiplicity of climate challenges.

"One of the biggest challenges we face is that with rising sea levels we have huge levels of flooding. We have never had a master plan for urban development for Lagos, so drains are easily blocked and that just adds to the problem. We get a lot of irresponsible disposal of waste, which ultimately affects not just the drains but also means that we lack good quality waste management infrastructure as well."

According to the World Bank, flood damage to assets, economic production and mortality in Lagos are estimated to cost almost $4bn each year. The coastline is eroding at an average annual rate of 8% (8.2 meters per year), leading to loss of assets, economic production and land worth $1.7bn annually.

Urbanisation's curse

Communities often lack the infrastructure to cope with climate-induced difficulties - particularly in urban areas which have received a large influx of poor migrants from rural areas, Oshodi says.

"Severe environmental degradation as a result of rapid, uncontrolled development exacerbates the vulnerability of Lagos' residents to disaster and climate risks, including flooding, coastal erosion, sea level rise and extreme heat," says the World Bank.

The Bank says urban expansion has taken place through deforestation, the reclamation of water bodies and the reduction of green spaces, further driving temperature increases biodiversity loss in urban areas.

"Uncontrolled spatial expansion of the built-up area has increased the state's exposure to natural disasters, a trend that will worsen with climate change," the Bank says.

Oshodi acknowledges that rapid urbanisation is one of the state's most significant challenges.

"We have very high inflow of migrants into the Lagos State, and many reside in informal settlements. And these areas are difficult for us to be able to reach. They are often in very remote locations. That's one of the reasons that we want to continue to map out our framework to address the effects of climate changes because they're the ones that are hit hardest.

"Our work is really cut out for us, to ensure that we're able to provide some form of support, and that's where the model of our waste management is so important."

Lagos estimates that it needs over $50bn to address an investment gap across transport, water, solid waste management, and information and communications technology.

The World Bank says investments in housing, social and green infrastructure investments are needed to support Lagos' sustainable growth, as well as soft investments in institutional, technical and financial capacity building.

A Lagos State Development Plan which runs from 2022 to 2052 provides a list of capital projects, but investment remains far below required levels.

Getting citizens onboard

While major infrastructure projects are urgently needed to improve waste management and slow coastal erosion, Oshodi says that educating citizens on the role that they can play is also vital.

Oshodi says that research to analyse the needs of Lagos' poorest peoples unearthed major knowledge gaps in climate change awareness.

"A lot of the nuance, a lot of their thought processes, a lot of their beliefs are usually drawn from traditional and cultural perspectives. And so it's very difficult for them to be able to develop the right solutions."

The state's pollution problem, for example, is mainly due to improper solid waste and plastic disposal: the waste sector contributes the largest share of particulate matter (PM2.5) at 32% and is the third largest source of GHG emissions in Lagos. With the right guidance, citizens can play an active role in helping the authorities to reduce that, Oshodi says.

"We do a lot of direct engagement," Oshodi says.

"We go into these communities, we simulate projects, to help them interact first hand.

"We have a programme called Eco-Circulate which is a waste programme where members of the community can exchange whatever they would typically discard in exchange for a social amenity provided by any of the ministries in Lagos. For instance, we have a Cowry Card to enable you to ride the buses in exchange for the value of the waste that you dispose of.

"There are various schemes which are boosting models of inter-relativity and inter-dependence within the ministries and the agencies of Lagos State, where they provide social amenities as an exchange for waste."

The strategy is to enhance what Oshodi describes as 'climate literacy', and encouraging climate-friendly behaviour.

Businesses can play a part

Oshodi also says that supporting businesses and allowing them to be a part of the solution is a major priority for the state.

"We have many young people who are graduates, who have gone to school and university, and yet find it difficult to find the sort of employment that they desire," she says.

"Skills have become the pivot to generate revenue and stay afloat. Within the green economy space, there are young entrepreneurs who are looking into waste collection or textile management, developing innovations and solutions such as in finance.

"They're young, they're vibrant, they're very agile, and we're trying to get them to learn about climate literacy, to get them a better understanding of the issues, such as understanding the dynamics of the waste collection industry to develop a circular economy."