The General Manager of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, Dolapo Fasawe, described climate change as an “enemy” to economic growth.
She said this at a climate change stakeholders’ forum convened by the French embassy in Nigeria, according to a report by Thisday.
Fasawe said that the state had six air quality monitoring mechanisms that aided in the acquisition of real-time data that is shared with the US embassy.
She added that the state had observed that some companies are loath to working with other comapnies that do not “deal with sustainability in their production”.
She said, “we have six air quality monitoring machines in Lagos which helps us acquire real time online data, and then we exchange these data with the American embassy.
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“In addition, in terms of physical economic impact we are seeing some companies have decided not to deal with companies that are not dealing with sustainability in their production.
“Climate change is an enemy to economic growth.
“Imagine all that was lost during the tsunami or floods, or when people spend so much time stuck in traffic due to flooded roads.
“Or even health impact assessment as people are getting exposed to ultra-violent rays and getting cancer at a younger age because we are not properly treating our waste.”
On the shift from the current materials used for construction in the country, the Director, CmDesign Atelier, Tosin Oshinowo, noted that Nigerians needed to use “more sustainable materials.”
Oshinowo said, “We need to look at using more sustainable building materials that are appropriate and conducive for the environment that would keep cool during the day and warm at night while constructing buildings in this era.
“Also, we need to generate policies and regulations that see to it that there are no buildings left abandoned and unkept as these are also great sources of environmental pollution.”
