Circular Economy will create new wealth for Lagos – Sanwo-Olu

Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Wednesday said implementing the circular economy initiative would create new wealth for the state.

Sanwo-Olu said this in Victoria Island, while unveiling the initiative at the Lagos Circular Economy Hotspot 2023 conference in Lagos.

The conference was organised by the State Government in collaboration with the Circular Economy Innovation Partnership (CEIP) and African Circular Economy Network.

The theme of the conference is: ”Towards a Circular and Resourceful Economy: The Future Lagos”.

Sanwo-Olu said the state was shifting to an innovative and sustainable consumption model, aimed at saving the future generations of resource scarcity.

He said that the circular economy initiative would create new wealth for the youths in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

According to him, it will generate more jobs, as addition innovative production ideas and extra manpower will be required to keep the regenerated materials in the loop for a long time.

The governor said that the circular economy initiative was aimed at engendering a new pattern of production and consumption, involving producing, repairing and recycling of used materials.

”Circular economy is based on regeneration of products for continuing production in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly manner,” Sanwo-Olu said.

He said the idea was critical to the future of Nigeria, as circular economy would proffer a programmatic approach to addressing global economic crises occasioned by pollution, climate change and loss of biodiversity.

”The Circular Economy Hotspot 2023 is of utmost importance, not only for Lagos and Nigeria, but for the entire sub-Saharan Africa.

”This speaks to my administration’s core principle of encouraging citizens engagements and partnerships, in our bid to sustain a resilient socio-economic development for Lagos.

”Developing countries like ours, which have contributed the least to global warming, are facing the worst impacts of climate change.

”We are also at a disadvantage in accessing resources and strategies needed to fight climate change and adapt to its impact.

”To save the future generations of resource scarcity, efforts must be committed to ensuring that resources are reused again, in order to minimise waste.

”Our linear approach to delivering public goods and services is being re-evaluated and the principles of Circular Economy shall be adopted fully.

”In a city like Lagos, we believe that this initiative will create more jobs, because additional innovative production ideas will be needed and extra manpower required to keep materials in the loop for a long time,” Sanwo-Olu said.

He said that the commercial activities that abound in Lagos, along with its major link to international businesses, had made the state a beacon of prosperity, attracting a constant influx of people, which translated to a growth in population.

The governor said that the attendant pressure on the limited resources, therefore, required a deliberate shift from materialisation to de-materialisation.

CEIP co-chairman, Mr Bolaji Akinboro, said that the concept of circular economy would allow the state to construct a new cycle of material use and save the future generations from scarcity.

Akinboro said that by the development, Lagos had set the pace for a new model of economy, which would set new trends and standards in sustainability.

”Adoption of a circular economy will lay the foundation for big businesses operating in Lagos to key into the new economic trend,” he said.

The Consular General, Kingdom of Netherlands, Mr Michael Deelen, congratulated Lagos for being the first sub-national to embark on a circular economic project.

Deelen, who was represented by the Deputy Consular General, Ms Leone Van der Stijl, said that it was time for Nigeria to have a change of perspective and expectations.

He said that the climate change had been projected to become more severe and would hit a point where the planet’s ecosystem would no longer replenish the resources being used up.

”With 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population under the age of 30, the possibility of climate change tainting their future is exponentially higher.

”This simply means there will be more people living with more scarcity in the future from the scarcity we are creating today.

”It makes sense to replace the current linear model of grab, use and dump, to a circular model of feeding recycled materials back into the system.

”The Netherlands is willing to provide the knowledge and capacity needed to build the circular economic model,” he said.

At the event, the Lagos State Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Netherlands Circular Hotspot, on technical cooperation and knowledge exchange.

This is towards accelerating the implementation of policies that will promote circular economy.