By Gabriel Agbeja
The Ogun Ministry of Environment says it is targeting cleaner air by strengthening environmental policies to mitigate carbon emissions.
The Commissioner for Environment in the state, Mr Ola Oresanya, disclosed this when he received a team of Climate Beyond Borders Caravan (CBBC) in his office on Thursday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CBBC is a Pan-Africa, youth-led initiative designed to champion climate justice, cross-border cooperation, and green economic transformation across the continent.
According to him, Ogun’s impact on tackling climate change centres on large-scale reforestation, localised climate-smart agriculture, and state-level policy coordination.
Oresanya said the state balanced economic growth with aggressive environmental policies to mitigate carbon emissions being an agricultural and industrial hub in southwestern Nigeria.
“Ogun State launched an ambitious campaign to plant one million trees in partnership with the private sector.
‘’This includes the creation of 50 hectares of green recreational parks to act as urban carbon sinks, improve air quality, and restore degraded lands.
“Also, the state-led research is actively assessing how extreme weather fluctuations and deforestation threaten local animal species, creating a foundation for localised conservation restoration projects.
“Farmers are increasingly adopting climate-smart strategies, such as small-scale irrigation and improved seed varieties, to combat shifting weather patterns,’’ he said.
According to him, the state established an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change to develop a structural framework for mitigating environmental hazards and ensuring the state aligned with Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.
The commissioner added that the state worked closely with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), to research local water basin vulnerability and train farmers on weather pattern awareness.
“As a major industrial zone bordering Lagos and Ogun enforces green compliance codes aimed at lowering carbon footprints.
“The state is systematically developing sustainable waste management and emission-monitoring strategies to avoid the pollution challenges typical of rapid industrialisation,’’ he said.
Speaking, Mr Olamide Lawal, Special Adviser to Ogun Governor on Youth Development, said Ogun’s impact came from using its base as leverage-forcing green space, verifying emissions data and scaling farmer-level adaptation.
‘’It will not move global carbon dioxide (CO2) much, but it’s one of the few Nigeria states turning climate policy into enforceable rules and measurable farmer outcomes,’’ he said. (NAN)
Edited by Funmilayo Adeyemi
