LCCI: ESG Adoption Presents Challenges, Opportunities, Adds Value to People, Economy

Dike Onwuamaeze

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has declared that adopting the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) presents both challenges and opportunities but adds significant values to the quality of lives of people, cities and their economies.

This declaration was made by the chairmen of the LCCI’s construction engineering and real estate sectoral groups when they announced their oncoming sectoral conference, which would be held on Thursday, March 26.

The conference will focus on the implementation of the Environmental Social and Governance ESG principles across the construction, engineering and real estate sectors.
The Chairman of the LCCI Construction and Engineering Group, Mr. Soji Adeniji, said that the conference would signal a defining shift in the future of Nigeria’s built environment to an era that demands responsibility, transparency, and sustainability.

Adeniji said: “The LCCI, through its Construction and Engineering, Real Estate Sectoral Group, is set to convene a landmark advocacy and knowledge-sharing event focused on the implementation of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles across the construction, engineering, and real estate sectors.”

He said that the adoption of the ESG principles mattered much presently because Nigeria is standing at a critical intersection of rapid urbanisation, heavy investments in infrastructure and challenges of building failures, regulatory inconsistencies, environmental degradation, and governance gaps in project delivery.

He noted that these are not isolated issues but systemic issues that required a structured, forward-thinking response, which is ESG compliance.

According to him, “ESG is not a buzzword. It is a practical framework for doing things right.”

He stated that environment includes building sustainably, reducing waste, and designing for resilience while social for protecting lives, ensuring worker safety, and creating inclusive communities; adding that governance means promoting transparency, accountability, and ethical project execution.

Adeniji declared that “we are here to make one message clear: Sustainable construction is no longer optional—it is the foundation for economic growth, investor confidence, and national development.”
Speaking in the same vein, the Chairman of LCCI Real Estate Group, Dr. Michael Oladiji, said that ESG is no longer optional across the globe but a significant framework.

Oladiji said: “Here in Nigeria, adopting ESG principles present challenges as well as humongous opportunities.

“As industry players we have agreed that adherence to ESG adds significant values that enhance quality of living for our people, cities and economy at large.”

He recalled that the real estate sector contributed 13.4 per cent to Nigeria’s GDP in 2015, and said that with this significant contribution has raised the need to ensure that the sector is at the centre of the country’s economic policy agenda.

“So, integrating ESG principles within the built environment is not just about a compliance issue, it is about galvanising investments for that sector.

“It is about ensuring that there is quality infrastructure development and that Nigerian built environment remains competitive globally.

“The goal of this conference is to take the ESG adoption from concept to action; from policy discussion to practical implementation within the built environment,” he said.