The Lagos State government on Thursday reiterated that the adoption of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, ESIA, process is a must in ensuring sustainable implementation of all developmental projects in the state.
State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, emphasised this at a one day stakeholders engagement workshop with financial institutions and professional bodies stating that its adoption had become necessary for all professionals in line with global best practices.
He said the theme “Embracing Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) As A Critical Management And Sustainable Tool” was apt as ESIA must be embraced by both private and public sector in order to achieve sustainable development.
The Commissioner who spoke through the Permanent Secretary Office of Environmental Services, Dr. Tajudeen Gaji, added that EIA helps in identifying the likely adverse and beneficial impacts of a project with the aim of putting in place measures to mitigate the adverse ones.
He said Lagos State remained the preferred destination for many businesses operating within the various sectors of Nigeria’s economy, adding that the preference could be likened to a two sided coin which on one hand stated that Lagos was open to economic prosperity and growth and on the other hand, came with various types of environmental and social challenges.
Wahab said the establishment of industrial facilities, creation of new settlements, and construction of infrastructure, all came with huge adverse environmental impacts ranging from pollution of various environmental media (Air, Land and Water) to sometimes irreversible environmental degradation if not properly managed.
“I will like to reiterate here, that the State Government cannot afford the huge cost of addressing environmental degradation and ecological challenges resulting from unwholesome project development activities.
“The cost of doing the right things is cheaper than the cost of remediating or correcting the consequences of refusal to do them,” he said.
He emphasized that Environmental Impact Assessment was a formal process for identifying the likely impacts that might arise from a proposed activity or project on the environment, human health and social economic activities.
He stated that the workshop was designed to bring together all financial institutions and professional bodies in the built environment to discuss the critical role of Environmental Impact Assessment in their collective strides towards sustainable development in the state.
He explained that it was worrisome that while the government continued to see improvements in the level of compliance of the Private Sector players to the process, the same could not be said about some professional bodies especially in the built environment.
He added that it had been observed that some private sector players had continued to execute development projects in the state without Environmental Impact Assessment.
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The commissioner reiterated that EIA had become a global decision-making tool by policy makers in protecting the environment with nations across the globe enacting laws and setting stricter standards to ensure compliance saying Lagos State could not be an exception.
He stressed that that was why the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources was committed to continuous creation of awareness on the need for participation and compliance with the EIA process in the state.
He added that the government had developed the Citizens Guide on EIA to educate members of the public and provide them with required information on EIA process in the state as well as embarked on stakeholders’ engagement meetings to several stakeholders and major focus groups across the state.
Earlier in a welcome address of the Permanent Secretary, read by the Director, Sanitation Services Department, Dr. Hassan Sanuth, he noted that EIA had become a major management tool that any nation that was determined to achieve sustainable development ccould not afford to jettison in project consideration and design.
He said all the financial institutions and professional bodies must be on the same page on the importance of EIA in project development and implementation in order to strike a balance between the desire for development, the need to protect the environment and public health which were not options but a necessity.
The guest lecturer, Prof. Babajide Alo, said ESIA must be executed thoroughly according to the stages like screening, scoping, preparing an ESIA report, publication consultation, decision making and post decision making.
He also identified the objectives of ESIA to include identifying, predicting, evaluating environmental economic, social impacts of development activities amongst others.
