Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies in Lagos, Nigeria: Built Environment Professionals’ Perspective

Abstract

In recent times, the need for concrete steps to be taken in the adaptation and mitigation of the effects of climate change has taken the centre stage in development discourse. However, there is a scarcity of empirical studies on the extent to which built environment professionals, especially in a developing country like Nigeria are aware of the various climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. This study examined the level of awareness of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies amongst built environment professionals in Lagos, Nigeria. The data were sourced through a cross-sectional survey of 71 respondents including, architects, builders, town planners, estate managers and quantity surveyors in the study area using an online questionnaire. The data were subjected to descriptive statistics and the result shows that the built environment professionals identified the main causes of climate change to include the use of fossil fuels in industrial production, automobiles, and generation of electricity. Also, the major effects of climate change were flooding and excessive heat, while the top three adaptation and mitigation strategies greening/planting trees, enforcement of building guidelines and the use of energy-efficient technologies. This study implies that the built environment professionals are very much aware of the existing climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies but there is an urgent need to internalize them in the production and management of the environment in Nigeria.