On Monday, 12th August 2024, Green Growth Africa led by its Executive Director, Dr. Adedoyin Adeleke and other members of the team, paid a courtesy visit to the Executive Governor of Osun State, His Excellency Senator Ademola Adeleke. The purpose of the visit was to directly engage the Osun State Government on the need for the administration to adopt green growth strategies in its development agenda and framework, which is a crucial pillar of Green Growth Africa’s policy advocacy and development.
During the meeting, Dr. Adedoyin Adeleke emphasised the importance of adopting a green growth strategy in developing climate-smart development solutions to address the state’s social and economic challenges while also responding to environmental challenges such as climate change.
“For instance,” Dr. Adedoyin remarked, “If I come to you today and say ‘invest so and so amount in protecting the environment,’ you may be unwilling given other priorities of the government such as education, health, insecurity and poverty reduction. However, through innovative green growth solutions, we can address these developmental priorities while simultaneously integrating environmental protection. This is the essence of the Green Growth approach.”
Dr. Adedoyin Adeleke then exemplified this green growth approach by spotlighting Green Growth Africa’s diverse projects in leading the green growth revolution in Africa. He referred the audience to the green office building at Ibadan, Nigeria, made entirely from waste plastic bottle-bricks and which uses 100% renewable energy solutions; as well as the EcoHeroes Initiative where young students lead the change to innovate and implement green solutions to address socio-economic challenges in their communities across Africa.
Dr. Adedoyin referenced a recent report by the Department of Climate Change, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Environment published in July 2024 that ranked Osun State 30th out of Nigeria’s 36 states in climate and green governance. He expressed Green Growth Africa’s willingness to partner with the Osun State Government to enhance its climate-smart policies, thereby improving the state’s performance in future rankings.
In response, Dr. Chinwe Obuaku-Igwe, the Technical Team Lead for the state’s Climate Change and Renewable Energy Advisory Council and Professor of Medical Sociology at the University of Western Cape, South Africa, reiterated Osun State Government’s commitment to climate action. She highlighted ongoing initiatives such as budgetary allocations for climate change, the development of a climate investment portfolio, and a baseline study of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Osun State. Dr Obuaku-Igwe also expressed displeasure at the methodology by which the climate governance ranking was conducted by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
In his address, H.E. Governor Ademola Adeleke affirmed his administration’s dedication to being a green government and stressed the need for greater recognition of sub-national entities in global climate efforts. He further announced his new role as Chairman of Osun State’s Climate Action Council to consolidate and strengthen the efforts that his government had made. Afterwards, the Osun State Governor directed his team to explore collaboration opportunities with Green Growth Africa to maximise their developmental outcomes.
Green Growth Africa expresses its gratitude for the warm engagement with the Osun State Government and looks forward to forging meaningful partnerships to advance green growth strategies in the state.
Signed
‘Damilola Alade
Lead, Operations & Strategic Engagement
Green Growth Africa, Ibadan, Nigeria
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