The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has urged Lagos State to join the Megacities Alliance for Water and Climate (MAWAC), which brings together 33 megacities from around the world to address climate change issues. This alliance is going to be formally inaugurated in Paris, France in January 2022.
Funke Adepoju, Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LASWARCO), announced on Wednesday during the opening ceremony of the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana’s 9th West African Clean Energy and Environment Trade Fair Conference 2021.
However, in order to promote bilateral trade contacts between Germany and other regions across the world, the mission is now present in 140 locations of 92 countries.
The invitation of Lagos State to join MAWAC, according to Adepoju, 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 the state government, through LASWARCO, had set frameworks and rules for stakeholders and service providers in the water sector in the last 20 months, in accordance with the regulatory mandate of the commission.
According to Adepoju, the guidelines include Packaged Water Service Guidelines, Regulation for Drinking Water Quality, Practice Order for Water Tankers and Groundwater Quality Control, and Drilling License Regulation.
Furthermore, she stated that the 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.
Adepoju stated that the Commission strives to guarantee that natural resources like water are maintained and protected for the water ecosystem as well as to promote health and well-being.
