Take the climate action you are waiting for

Three decades ago, my father came home and asked us all to pack up our lives. He had decided it was time for us to leave the densely populated city centre, where my siblings and I were born and had grown to love, for a new settlement where he built his first house – far from the world we knew. It often felt like we had been evicted from civilisation. Amidst the agony, I once asked my dad why we were only surrounded by trees and thick vegetation. My siblings also took turns to throw tantrums when having their meltdowns over being removed from our former lives.

But soon enough, we began to enjoy nature and the beach-like environment. The things we once considered inconveniences: the forest cover and what seemed like infinitely open spaces; the clean air; biodiversity; a squirrel randomly racing down the road; and the small-scale farm my dad set up for recreational purposes. They all became an adventure of many parts.

Down the line, visits to the urban centre became more uncomfortable and stressful. There was barely enough space to walk and accommodate vehicles. We also began to notice the air smelt different — and extremely tainted, on some occasions.

Today, more than three decades on, the pristine landscape of our once beautiful suburb has morphed rapidly into a busy semi-urban area, losing a significant portion of its nature while evolving in the name of development. This is indicative of a trend that is both local and global. Urban development in many cities harms ecosystems and increases pressure on our natural environment. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the world has lost an estimated 178 million hectares of forest area between 1990 and 2020, an area said to be equivalent to the landmass of Libya.

My humble experience highlights the simple truth that environmental degradation and its effects are not always dramatic. Sometimes it is the realisation on your next visit that the plantation where you made those favourite fruit-hunting memories has been replaced by a housing estate. At other times, it is a gradual rise in temperature over decades. The cool evening breeze is becoming heat-trapped by concrete edifices, for which you now most certainly require air conditioning.

In commemoration of the annual World Environment Day Today, conversations and summits around the world are expected to focus on climate action, the need to build more resilient systems and halting practices that have led us down this road.

On the local front, Lagos continues to experience one of the fastest urban expansions in Africa. We have built housing estates, roads, industrial centres, and commercial hubs in place of natural forests, wetlands and mangroves. Travelling up north, stories of massive deforestation leading to desertification, poor erosion control, and reckless exploitation of natural resources are rife. All of these lead to the destruction of nature’s infrastructure, providing ecosystem services, from air purification to temperature regulation and carbon sequestration. While these services may not always reflect directly on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of any country, they are essential drivers that make other economic activities possible.

This begs the question: Do we continue to drive development at the expense of nature? Have we been measuring our gains while ignoring what we lose? What is the cost of urban development to our natural habitats and our lives in the long term?

In the time that the forests and farmlands I took for granted as a child disappeared beneath the footprints of urban expansion, the United Nations (UN) has since established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to push for a different narrative, but that, in its entirety, has drawn a mixed level of compliance across the globe.

While the SDGs adopt a coordinated approach towards sustainability, member countries of the UN, through Goals 11 and 13, are encouraged to promote sustainable urban development by building inclusive, safe, and resilient cities. The goals also demand urgent, unified global action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen community resilience against extreme weather, and fund climate solutions to secure a liveable planet.

Countries are called to find local solutions to enable us all to aggregate towards global success. The responsibility of finding these solutions, however, cascades from the level of nations to regions, states, and then to us all as individuals. Where my father started with us. Not with a fancy international pledge, but with a decision to move his family towards a greener space and teach us the essence of nature.

Today, we continue to lose that forest landscape, one tree after another. The cool evening breeze is now a memory behind air-conditioned walls. The climate crisis, once a distant narrative, now arrives at our doorsteps as heatwaves, floods, and unpredictable seasons.

While the United Nations decided to theme the 2026 World Environment Day, Climate Action, the question to us is, ‘What do you get to do about it as a person?’

Plant a tree, or two, Today. Or maybe integrate existing tree canopies into your latest remodelling and landscaping plans. Dispose of domestic waste responsibly. Perhaps ditch that ride for a walk instead. Or identify one source of emissions you are responsible for within your immediate environment. Then avoid, minimise, or offset it by creating a balancing effect.

The world has had too many summits. While we continue to mount pressure on authorities to take the bold step of moving from policies and paperwork to execution, start to take the climate action you are waiting for Today.