•Signs Four MOUs on Climate Mitigation, Waste-to-Wealth Initiatives
By Olasunkanmi Akoni
The administration of Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has announced plans to invest an estimated $9 billion in resilience and infrastructure projects during the 2026 fiscal year, as part of efforts to promote environmental sustainability across the state.
This development follows the signing of four separate Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between the Lagos State Government and private sector partners, focusing on climate change mitigation and waste-to-wealth initiatives.
Speaking on the financing strategy, Dr. Dania Folayinka, Chief Resilience Officer at the Lagos State Resilience Office (LASRO), made the disclosure during her presentation at the second day of the 11th Lagos International Climate Change Summit. Themed “The Blue Economy, Green Money:
Financing Africa’s Coastal Resilience and Ocean Innovation,” the summit featured its first plenary session yesterday.
Dr. Folayinka explained that the targeted funding-sourced through both government and private sector financing-will be deployed across key sectors of the state’s economy to support resilience and infrastructure development.
The Lagos International Climate Change Summit (LICCS), hosted by the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, serves as a global platform for Africa’s climate leadership. This year’s summit showcased Lagos’ innovation, resilience, and commitment to sustainable growth ahead of COP30.
COP30, the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, is scheduled to take place from November 10-21, 2025, in Belém, Brazil. It is the annual meeting of parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where global climate actions are negotiated.
With a population exceeding 22 million and a coastline stretching 187 kilometers, Lagos continues to thrive as a city built on water, energy, and enterprise.
Declaring the summit open on Thursday, Governor Sanwo-Olu stated:
“Lagos does not wait for the future; Lagos builds it. And that future must be sustainable, inclusive, and ocean-powered.”
He emphasized that the state’s climate strategy is anchored on three interconnected pillars: resilience, innovation, and financing.
“We are building coastal resilience to protect our communities. As we advance our climate agenda, we recognize that true resilience goes beyond infrastructure and technology – it is also about restoring harmony with nature itself,” he said.
At last year’s summit, the state launched the Lagos Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan (LCARP), a comprehensive blueprint to transform ambition into action.
Building on that foundation, and in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Lagos developed the Climate Investment Opportunities Diagnostic (CIOD), a practical investment guide that aligns climate priorities with financing solutions.
“It identifies opportunities across clean energy, sustainable transport, and resilient infrastructure – sectors that will define the next decade of Lagos’ growth. But we know that public finance alone cannot carry this weight,” Sanwo-Olu added.
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