Hot SourceSunday Ehigiator
Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, has revealed that long-term plans are underway to gazette wetlands and mangroves within the state as a solution to the rising sea level threatening coastal settlements.
This is just as he announced that November 6 to 7 are dates for the upcoming Lagos International Climate Change Summit 2025, with the theme: ‘Blue Economy, Green Money: Financing Africa’s Coastal Resilience and Ocean Innovation’.
Speaking during a press briefing yesterday, Wahab said the summit, which is bid to take place at the Lagos Continental Hotel, would bring together over 1,200 participants from more than 30 countries, including global CEOs, development partners, scientists, investors, and youth innovators, to design real, bankable climate solutions for Africa.
The commissioner noted that the summit, a flagship initiative of the Lagos State Government, first launched in 2009 by the former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola government, has evolved into one of Africa’s leading sub-national climate dialogues.
“Lagos is one of the world’s most vibrant coastal megacities; a hub of creativity, commerce, and culture. Yet it is also one of the most climate-vulnerable cities globally, facing sea-level rise, excessive rainfall, heat, coastal erosion, and flash flooding,” he stated.
According to him, Lagos State is turning its vulnerabilities into opportunities by positioning itself as a model for sustainable coastal resilience, green finance, and blue economy innovation.
He explained that the 2025 edition of the summit would explore four core focus areas: “Blue Economy: Addressing ocean and water waste for sustainable growth. Green Finance: Mobilising capital for renewable energy, waste recycling, and nature-based infrastructure. Innovation and Youth: Empowering the next generation of African climate entrepreneurs, and Partnerships: Strengthening collaboration across sectors for long-term transformation.”
Wahab said the summit’s timing, coming ahead of the 2030 Global Climate Summit in Brazil, offers Lagos a unique opportunity to shape international conversations and translate local actions into global impact.
“Our goal is clear: to make Lagos the climate capital of Africa, A city that not only adapts to change but leads it. Through investments in coastal defences, flood mitigation, renewable energy, and urban greening, Lagos is setting an example for other African cities to follow,” he said.
Answering questions on the short and long-term solutions to the rising sea level threatening coastal settlements within the state, the commissioner said: “I tell people that Lagos is a very unique state. Lagos has grown in leaves and flowers. If you are in doubt, let’s go and check the Google footprint of this country for the past 20 years. Lagos is surrounded in the south by more than 86 km of the boundary of the Atlantic Ocean.
“Our realities are rising sea level, excessive heat, excessive rainfall, flash flooding, exaggerated by human negative conduct with respect to building on floodplains, reclamation without Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), reclamation without drainage clearance, building on wetlands and mangroves.
“And we are already taking very proactive steps to solve that. Between now and when that happens, we are pushing back to save our wetlands. Wetlands are a natural sponge for us.
“Now, are we getting people’s resistance? Yes, because people are telling me they want to build houses. But you can’t build at the detriment of others. So, that is what we are doing differently. The long-term, however, is to gazette it, and make it unlawful to do it.”
