Lagos State has emerged as the most climate-resilient city in West Africa after topping the 2026 West Africa Climate Governance Index (WACGI), an assessment that evaluated 209 sub-national governments across the 15 member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The France-based climate research body announced that Lagos recorded the highest score of 86.3 out of 100, earning a Grade “A” for its climate governance performance. The state ranked ahead of Kano, Abuja, Greater Accra, Praia, Dakar, Porto Novo, Abidjan Autonomous District, São Filipe and Bombali.
According to the WACGI, the assessment measured climate-risk exposure, governance visibility, climate finance, transparency, public participation and implementation capacity across the participating states.
The organisation said the ranking aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 13 on Climate Action and SDG 17 on Partnerships for the Goals, while also supporting the African Union’s Agenda 2063 aspiration for a prosperous and climate-resilient Africa.
Following Lagos’ emergence as the best-performing sub-national government in West Africa for 2026, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was honoured with the prestigious Grand Laureate of Climate Governance award for leading what the organisation described as the region’s most resilient climate governance structure.
In a notification letter dated July 8, 2026, Director of Fondation Lucien Paye, Prof. Julie Peghini, congratulated Governor Sanwo-Olu for implementing policies and initiatives aimed at reducing climate-related risks and strengthening climate adaptation across Lagos State.
She stated that the award recognises Lagos State as the 2026 best-performing sub-national government in climate governance in West Africa, adding that the assessment report and raw datasets have been made publicly available through the official French Government data repository.
Prof. Peghini noted that WACGI believes transparent, evidence-based assessments can serve as a catalyst for institutional improvement, encouraging governments with strong performance while providing recommendations for those seeking to strengthen their climate governance systems.
The West Africa Climate Governance Index is a France-based initiative established by the Africa Foundation (Lucien Paye) at the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris to promote climate governance across ECOWAS member states using indicators aligned with the Paris Agreement.
The report also highlighted Nigeria’s broader climate governance framework, describing the country as having one of the region’s most comprehensive climate policy architectures. It cited the Climate Change Act 2021, the National Council on Climate Change, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0), the Energy Transition Plan, the long-term net-zero strategy and expanding climate finance initiatives as key components.
Despite these achievements, WACGI noted that Nigeria continues to face significant climate challenges, including coastal flooding and erosion in the South, desertification and extreme heat in the North, river flooding across the Middle Belt, agricultural vulnerability, gas flaring and risks associated with the transition of the oil and gas sector.
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