IHS, AML, others proffer National Sustainability Summit as a solution to promoting sustainable development in the country

IHS Towers; one of the largest telecommunications infrastructure providers in Africa, A’Lime Media Limited; a strategy and advisory firm, and other sustainability professionals have called on the need for a national sustainability summit and a review of obsolete sustainability policies as a solution to promoting sustainability in the country. This was the crux of discussions at the just concluded World Environment Day webinar 2.0 with the theme ‘Living Sustainably in Harmony with Nature: The Reality of Sustainability in Developing Economies’.

Speaking during the event, the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner of Environment & Solid Minerals and Keynote speaker, Charles Udoh, harped on the need for individuals, governments and organisations to practise green living whilst spotlighting sustainability and the environment. He described sustainability as the broadest idea that discusses the ability and process to continuously support the environment overtime, while sustainability in action is about finding a balance between the environmental, social and governance aspects of sustainability. He concluded by highlighting the sustainability footprints of the Akwa Ibom State Government, the need for state governments to upscale sustainability efforts and for citizens to be interested in the goings on within their local government, especially about sustainability development..

The event saw an assemblage of panellists who, on the one hand, advertised the many advantages of embracing sustainable development whilst addressing the bottlenecks for achieving sustainability in developing economies, on the other hand. According to Dr. Tiwalade Adeniyi, Sustainability Lead, Coronation Group, Lagos, there’s a heightened need for a national summit that will bring together stakeholders from the public and private sector to discuss policy implementation, identification of critical sustainability gaps using SDG as a guide, adequate funding and building legal frameworks for backing. While Oyinlola Akiboye, a Sustainability Professional, encouraged the ingenuity to maximise resources as it may provide the pathway to sustainable development.

While fielding questions from panellists, Olaide Olawale, an Environmental & Sustainability Professional, asserted the need to localise innovations, as there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Each country must chart its own course, she concluded. Priscillia Obot an Environmental Engineer & Sustainability Manager at North South Power, Nigeria, bemoaned the problem of social imbalance in Nigeria, stating that, for instance, for every construction job, there should be an environmental survey and a plan embedded in the project, as she rounded up.

Moderated by William Asim-Ita, an ESG expert and the Technical Director, A’Lime Media Limited, the event had in attendance participants drawn from different professional backgrounds who lent their voice in unism to campaign for sustainability and the practice of green living. Participants were encouraged to be proactive green ambassadors within their space, both as individuals and as professionals, and lead a contagious environmentally-friendly lifestyle to positively influence their immediate society. This underlines the theme of this year’s World Environment Day celebration; #OnlyOneEarth, as summarised in a message by the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, Inger Andersen, “…because we are only one people and we have only one Earth. We have only one home. And that is worth standing up for.”

The World Environment Day webinar 2.0 is the second edition in a series of webinars and advocacy by the host, IHS Towers and A’Lime Media Limited, A’Lime Impact Partnership and Brandbill to commemorate the annual World Environment Day celebration and a clarion call for amplified sustainability practice in Nigeria and sub-saharan Africa.