The Federal Government has commenced the review of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (EIA) and environmental guidelines to address a number of gaps identified in the existing ones to meet international best practices.
The Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril announced this at the opening of the National Stakeholders Validation workshop in Abuja.
Jibril, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Shehu Mahmud Ahmed, noted that the review exercise underscores the Federal Government’s commitment to the principles of sustainable development and good governance, as well as the creation of an enabling environment that will ensure that her citizens live within environmental limits and standard that will promote healthy life.
He said, “Global environmental issues such as Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) keep evolving and unfortunately our existing guidelines do not have the capacity to incorporate climate smart decisions that will adequately address this phenomenon.”
He explained that with these new trends and emerging global environmental issues, it has become imperative for Nigeria to review the existing EIA Act, which has been in operation for the past two decades and addresses the shortcomings in order to bridge the gaps and ensure conformity with international standards, especially against the backdrop of the dynamics of the country’s environment.
Twenty five years ago, Decree No 86 (now known as EIA Act CAP E 12 LFN) was promulgated by the Federal Government in order to achieve sustainable development in Environmental Impact Assessment.
The law makes it mandatory that EIA study be carried out for all new major development projects in the country with the Federal Ministry of Environment as the apex body regulating and certifying environmental permits in the country.
Meanwhile, the guidelines under review include EIA procedural guidelines, guidelines for strategic environmental assessment, EIA Guidelines for Renewable Energy, EIA guidelines for oil and gas upstream, EIA guidelines for pesticide and a host of others.
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