UNESCO invites Lagos into membership of megacities alliance for water, climate

The Executive Secretary of Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LASWARCO), Mrs. Funke Adepoju, at the opening ceremony of the 9th West African Clean Energy and Environment Trade Fair Conference 2021 organized by the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana on Wednesday, disclosed that the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has invited Lagos State into membership of the Megacities Alliance for Water and Climate (MAWAC), a convergence of 33 mega-cities of the world with a focus on addressing climate change challenges.

The alliance is scheduled to be formally inaugurated in January 2022 in Paris, France.

The delegation is represented in 140 locations in 92 countries abroad to foster bilateral trade relations between Germany and other regions worldwide.

Adepoju said the invitation of Lagos as a member of MAWAC will “greatly provide an opportunity for the state to access technical and financial support for programs and projects to overcome the challenges of climate change.”

She said that in the last 20 months, the state government through LASWARCO had developed frameworks and guidelines for stakeholders and service providers in the water sector in line with the regulatory mandate of the commission.

These guidelines, according to Adepoju, include Packaged Water Service Guidelines, Regulation for Drinking Water Quality, Practice Order for Water Tankers and Groundwater Quality Control, and Drilling License Regulation.

Besides, she said the state government, through LASWARCO, also established the first state-owned Reference lab and a mobile laboratory to ensure that regulations guiding water quality surveillance and activities of service providers are grounded in evidence-based bio-science research, while the Commission was also working with the Society of Testing Laboratory Analyst of Nigeria (SoTLAN) to ensure state-wide coverage in the area of water quality testing.

“Water is critical to climate change. It is the link between the climate system, human society, and the environment. It is therefore at the forefront of mainstreaming a regulatory framework that ensures that accessing groundwater through drilling activities, abstraction, and effluent discharge are done in a responsible and sustainable manner,” she said.

For environmental sustainability, Adepoju said the Commission seeks to ensure that natural resource such as water is conserved and protected for the water ecosystem and to support health and well-being.

Lagos State has not been able to address the shortage of portable water supply in the state over the years. Many residents of the stater rely on boreholes, sunk well, as sources of water supply.