At the panel session on “Rising Seas, Resilient Communities: Climate Adaptation Strategies in West Africa” at Harvard Business School earlier today, I had the opportunity to share Lagos State’s realities as a coastal megacity. Lagos sits on the continental shelf. Our land mass has grown from 3,577 to 4,050... square kilometres, largely through reclamation of wetlands and lagoon bodies. While this expansion has created space for real estate and infrastructure, it also comes with risks. This is why we insist that no reclamation takes place without Environmental Impact Assessments and drainage masterplans. These checks are necessary because when reclamation is done indiscriminately, it blocks stormwater pathways, destroys natural buffers like mangroves, and exposes millions of our people to flooding and erosion. As a city of over 22 million residents, we face additional pressures in managing daily waste. Lagos has long relied on a linear waste system with landfills, many of which are now decommissioned or about to be decommissioned . Today, we are deliberately shifting to a circular model that sees waste as a resource for wealth and energy. We have entered partnerships across the sub-region and beyond , including with a Ghanaian company that is helping us turn thousands of tonnes of waste into compost and reusable materials, while also setting up transfer loading stations to reduce what ends up in our landfills . We also recognize that Lagos is not alone in these challenges. The entire Gulf of Guinea shares similar threats. What happens in Togo, with its 42-mile coastline, or in Ghana, can affect us directly. That is why we have reached out to our neighbors and built regional partnerships on coastal protection, solid waste management, and climate adaptation. Our commitment is clear: to protect our environment, prosecute those who damage it, communicate with our citizens through advocacy on safe practices, and work with regional and international partners to build a Lagos that is not just surviving climate change but leading in adaptation strategies. These moves and developments are set to put Lagos on a #NewHorizon.show more

Tokunbo Wahab

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