Experts in the climate change space have called for collaboration for sustainable practices, especially in waste management.
The Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Climate Change and Circular Economy, Titilayo Oshodi, amongst other professionals, made the call on Friday in Lagos.
Oshodi stated that now is the time to expand and diversify into various sectors towards achieving a sustainable environment.
“It’s time for us to start looking inward to develop the various sectors of data, manufacturing, science, finance, so that all of these ecosystems can begin to complement each other, and we can establish industries for a green economy,” she said while speaking with our correspondent at the Eko Trashion by Plogging Nigeria.
She said that on the economy business level, the first thing that the network has presented to the state is to be able to drive data, understand challenges that entrepreneurs are facing, and also then use that data to develop the necessary solutions by helping them to establish structures within their businesses.”
She added “we are establishing incubator programs to help and build proficiency in the skills and the competencies that they (entrepreneurs) have developed. We’re helping them by enabling their commerce departments to have access to finance. “We are also curating opportunities for partnership and collaboration across both.”
Titlope Oguntuga, member, Board of Trustees, Plogging Nigeria, saidcreativity enhances innovation that helps sustainability, creativity enhances innovation that helps societies to create the world in a manner that future generations can live, rely, engage in very practical ways.
She advocated for very sustainable practices, including waste management, adding that the TraFashion makes it more revealing, open the eyes of people to the gold mine and the opportunities that are available in waste management when they are repurposed into wealth and other luxury and lifestyle opportunities.
“It is to ensure that we keep people, people, informed through our various activities and initiatives around how their impacts, their actions, can either make or mar the planet,” she said.
She stated that it has become imperative to begin identifying opportunities and create interventions, leveraging a lot of innovation to be able to not just keep this world but also preserve it for future generations to come.
On his part, the Administrative Director for Plogging Nigeria, Ayodeji Omilabu, said the theme, “Creativity meets Sustainability” looks at how creatives can enhance talk about the sciences behind the emerging environmental system.
“We are talking about climate education. It’s not everybody that is into sciences. It’s not everybody that is into STEM. So how can non STEM, especially the poor in humanity in art, how can they use your craft, their knowledge? How can they use it to talk about climate change? This is how we are able to relate to people without even saying anything,” he said.
He noted that the first edition held at University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, had creatives turning wastes into material such as using coconut shell to make ointment.
