Lagos State Government launched the Climate Action Plan in July 2021, in partnership with C40 cities and the United Kingdom’s Foreign Commonwealth Development Office, as now launched the ‘Lagos Youth Climate Campaign’.
A climate change workshop organised to involve the youth of the society in the fight to restore the environment and engage important segments of society to tackle the climate crisis.
Also, popular comedian, content creator, and social media influencer, Maryam Apaokagi, aka Taaooma, is one of the social media influencers, who will drive the state’s climate action plan for the Lagos youth climate campaign.
Speaking at the workshop themed “Lagos Youth United for Climate Action”, Tokunbo Wahab, the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, who was represented by Dr Babatunde Ajayi the General Manager of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, praised the youth for championing the cause.
The commissioner said, “The new media will be used more to drive the key message and awareness of the climate crisis campaign. Every kind of communication that is necessary to propagate this agenda will be deployed. There will be skits, infographics, and a lot of other things that will be used all in a bid to ensure that we have proper climate action and be deliberate in reaching the bedrock of our society.
“Lagos State, across the board, is very inclined to ensure these messages are passed across by propagating inter-agency integration. More than ever, the current administration led by the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is keen on ensuring very efficient climate change action for Lagos. We have started, and we are focused on achieving it all.”
Also speaking, the Special Adviser on Environment, Olakunle Akodu, revealed that the ‘T.H.E.M.E.S Plus’ agenda was focused on youths.
“With the ‘Plus’, of course, we now have social inclusion, gender equality and the youth as a priority. So, Taaooma is very popular among the youth, she has good records and comes clean with her content, with no scandals. She is a social media giant, and we trust her ability to carry the youth along. We considered she deserved to drive the policy for us,” Akodu remarked.
Meanwhile, Maximus Ugwuoke, the lagos City Adviser of C40 Cities, highlighted the significance of the collaboration with the Lagos State Government.
“Lagos, as part of our C40 Cities network, is showing the light to other cities all across Nigeria on how to prioritise climate action and that is essentially one of the reasons why we have continued to partner with Lagos. We have supported Lagos in developing a climate action plan that is aligned with the Paris Agreement, and we have continued supporting its implementation through the generous support of our funder, FCDO, through the Urban Climate Action Programme, because it is not enough to develop a plan without implementation.
“Thus, C40 is supporting Lagos in implementing actions around energy, waste, and, of course, mainstreaming because, if you are familiar with Lagos’s environment, you will know that waste management, energy, and transportation are the emission hotspots. So, we are supporting them to make sure that they implement action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through those sources,” Ugwuoke explained.
