Lagos State Government has launched the Art for Climate Project aimed at promoting climate change advocacy and action through artistic expression.
The project, which is in partnership with the Creative Youth Community Development Initiative – Solution17 for Climate Action, and New York University (NYU) Abu Dhabi, targets children between the ages of eight and 12 who will be co-creating local and global solutions using Canvas.
Speaking at a news conference at Alausa, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Omobolaji Gaji, said the Art for Climate Change is a follow-up to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed between New York University (NYU) Abu Dhabi and COP28 UAE, which aims to enhance the role of higher education institutions in knowledge-sharing, climate action, and youth engagement, in the lead-up to the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
He said this is expected to increase the contribution of youths towards an inclusive and solutions-oriented climate conference.
“For the project, artists from Lagos will collaborate with Tech Innovators, Experts in relevant fields, students from NYU Abu Dhabi and the Universities Climate Network UAE, to co-create innovative solutions to problems around key thematic areas relevant to COP28, which will be depicted in ART.
“Today, Lagos State Government and Solution 17 are proud to launch the Art for Climate Change project and kickstart a series of events including a co-creation innovation hub, live marathon painting events, dialogue series, and exhibitions.”
“The events will be held periodically till the commencement of the COP28 conference in November 2023. It is our collective hope that this initiative will foster conversations about the role of art, culture, and citizenship development in addressing global challenges and shaping policies,” he said.
According to Gaji, the Art for Climate Change project would be building on a previous partnership of the Lagos State Government with The Vision of the Child (VoTC), through which the renowned Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, mentored thousands of young artists, and poets between the ages 8 and 12 from 2012 to 2019.’’
The Chief Executive Officer of Solution17 for Climate Action, Mrs Foluke Michael, highlighted the project’s thematic areas to include Renewable energy, climate smart Agriculture, Circular and Blue economy, Hydrogen economy, Culture and Citizenship.
One of the Project beneficiaries, Miss AnjolaOluwa Olanrewaju, 20, who advocated the establishment of a Climate Change Academy, said the project has created some solutions to global climate change issues through artistic impressions.
