Industries, Factories to be Affected as Nigerian Government Moves to Curb Air Pollution

With the resolve of the Federal Government to checkmate air pollution in the country by setting up emissions control programmes, companies, industries and factories with vehicles and generators are top on the list of organizations to be affected.

While flagging off the national emissions control programmes in Abuja on Monday, the Minister of Environment, Muhammad Abdullahi, said that there would be annual testing of generators and vehicles for toxic and greenhouse gas emissions.

Abdullahi disclosed that the generators to be tested are stationary sources, while the vehicles are mobile sources.

Investors King reports that stationary emission sources are diesel generators from industries, companies or factories which these organisations use.

Individuals who own vehicles and generators are also expected to make their equipment available for testing to ensure that they conform to the global emission standard for protection of environment and human lives.

Concerned stakeholders including environmentalists have decried continuous air pollution, saying that the world had about 12 years left to save the planet from the effects of climate change, before it becomes irreversible.

They had urged Nigerians, especially business owners to desist from polluting the environment, especially through their vehicles and generators.

To ensure that the environment and human life are saved from the dangers caused by toxic air emissions, the federal government inaugurated the National Generator Emissions Control Programme (NGECP) and the National Vehicular Emissions Control Programme (NVECP).

These programmes, according to the Minister, involved the periodic testing of generators and vehicles for toxic and greenhouse gas emissions.

The Minister pointed out that the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency would implement the programmes, adding that the NGECP and the NVECP are means of reducing emissions of pollutants from stationary source generators and mobile source vehicles.

Abdullahi said that the programmes would be implemented through public-private partnership and that generators and vehicles in the country would be subjected to annual checks for toxic and greenhouse gas emissions.

Explaining the modus operadi and tasks of stakeholders in the exercise, the minister said NESREA would set national emission standards and would develop a reliable national database management system for all emissions data generated from  NGECP and NVECP in the country.

Abdulahi said the implementation of the NGECP would be commencing with power-generating sets of capacity from 10kva and above and that the lowest limit for the NVECP

would be Euro III emission standard as agreed at the regional level of the Economic Community if West African States (ECOWAS).

In his remarks, the Director-General, NESREA, Prof. Aliyu Jauro, disclosed that some of the regulations to back the implementation of the duo programmes include the National Environmental (Control of Emissions from Petrol and Diesel Engines) Regulations, 2011; and the National Environmental (Air Quality Control) Regulations, 2021.

As part of NESREA’s mandate to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement as spelt out in the Nationally Determined Contributions, Jauro said the operationalisation of the two above-stated regulations was scaled-up with NGECP and NVECP.

He maintained that NGECP and NVECP have been designed to address the emissions from mobile and stationary sources, while expressing optimism that the country would experience reduction in the air pollution when the testing starts.