Lagos ranked as West Africa’s most climate-resilient city

Lagos State has been ranked as the ‘most climate-resilient city’ in West Africa, offering the most advanced and measurable climate governance among sub-national governments in the sub-continent.

The verdict was the outcome of the recently concluded West Africa Climate Governance Index (WACGI) Assessment — a comprehensive study that involved evidence-based research across all 209 sub-national governments in the 15 ECOWAS nations. WACGI said its regional evaluation, where Lagos and 208 other West African states were assessed, combined climate-risk exposure, governance visibility, finance evidence, transparency, participation and implementation capacity as parameters.

Based on the listed parameters, Lagos scored 86.3 points — the highest on a scale of 100 points and ranked Grade “A”, coming ahead of Kano, Abuja, Greater Accra, Praia, Dakar, Porto Novo, Abidjan Autonomous District, São Filipe, Bombali, among others.

The ranking, according to WACGI, aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). The research body added that its evaluation also fell within the scope and parameters of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 aspiration for a prosperous and climate-resilient Africa.

With Lagos State emerging as the first in the 2026 Best Performing Sub-national Government in West Africa, the climate research body conferred its prestigious honour of “Grand Laureate of Climate Governance” on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for administering the most resilient climate governance structure.

In an official notification letter, dated July 8, 2026, to the Lagos State Government, Julie Peghini, director of Fondation Lucien Paye, congratulated Governor Sanwo-Olu for championing actions and policies aimed towards mitigating climate-related hazards and strengthening adoption in Lagos.

She wrote: “In recognition of this achievement, we are pleased to confer upon Your Excellency and the Government of Lagos State the distinguished honour of the ‘Grand Laureate of Climate Governance’ for 2026, the best-performing subnational government in West Africa.” The formal report and the raw results datasets are publicly available on the official French Government data repository.”

The WACGI is a France-based climate policy and initiative centre established by the Africa Foundation (Lucien Paye) at Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris to advance climate governance in West Africa. This is achieved through indicators and parameters aligned with the Paris Agreement’s clauses.

Peghini said the publication reflected WACGI’s conviction that transparent, evidence-based assessment could become a powerful catalyst for institutional improvement. Recognition of strong performance, she said, should inspire ranked countries, while constructive recommendations should support governments seeking to strengthen their climate governance systems.