'FORMULATE LAWS, POLICIES ON CLIMATE CHANGE'

By NBF NEWS

Due to its peculiarity which makes it susceptible to the effects of climate change, Lagos State has to come up with relevant laws and policies to combat the global phenomenon.

Such laws can find ready models in the Climate Change Act of the United Kingdom 2008 and the Climate Change Act of the Philippines 2009.

The laws, according to stakeholders, who gathered at a two-day technical session on the state of policies, programmes and research on climate change in the state's ministries, departments and agencies; must be sufficiently balanced in protecting short-term competitiveness, while harnessing opportunities.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, which was made available to our correspondent on Monday, participants noted that there was a need to formulate robust policies and legal frameworks that would concretely address and meet the demands of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The communiqué, which was signed by the Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Muiz Banire, and an official of Policies, Programmes and Research on Climate Change, Mr. Sulaimon Arigbabu, noted that policies must have embedded in them the provision for yearly review to fine-tune them with changing needs.

It said, 'The state government needs to institute an inter-ministerial working committee on climate change to facilitate interaction and networking between MDAs in the state towards incorporating climate change impact in their policies, programmes and actions.'