Streamlining Lagos laws to address climate impacts

Michael Simire in AllAfrica.com, via the Daily Independent (Nigeria): Because of its susceptibility to climate change effects, Lagos should fashion relevant laws and policies which could find ready models in the 2008 Climate Change Act of the United Kingdom and the 2009 Climate Change Act of The Philippines. The laws must be sufficiently balanced in protecting the short term competitiveness while harnessing opportunities.

This call forms the fulcrum of a package of recommendations put forward by participants at a recent forum wherein officials of ministries, departments and agencies, as well as academics, representatives of civil society and media explored the status of policies, programmes and research on climate change in the state.

The event was organised by Lagos State Ministry of the Environment in collaboration with Policy Advocacy Project Partnership on Climate Change in Lagos State Participants described climate change as a major threat to the state's socio-economic stability, requiring concerted collaborations between governments and non-state actors with other stakeholders in the civil society.

It was observed that although Lagos State has been forthcoming in striving towards evolving mitigation and adaptation strategies, a lot still needed to be done by reviewing existing laws as well as reforming institutions to keep track with the challenges posed by mitigation and adaptation. In particular, inter-ministerial coordination is urgently required to make for optimum result, the gathering noted….

That's the Lagos flag, rendered by Lephilippe, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License