Reducing vehicular emissions necessary to tackle air pollution

The Director General of National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) said this yesterday in Abuja while speaking at the NESREA Stakeholders meeting on National Vehicular Emission Control Programme (NVECP) in Nigeria.
She said the industrialisation and urbanisation of the society have continued to increase exposure to uncontrolled emissions from factories and industries as well.
While quoting World Health Organisation reports in 2012 that about 7 million people died as a result of exposure to air pollution, making air pollution the world’s largest single environmental health risk, she said reducing air pollution could save millions of lives.
“If we can reduce vehicular pollutants, we can significantly enhance air quality, improve public health and save billions of naira in health care costs,” she said.
She added that effective vehicular emissions reduction required an integrated strategic approach involving improvements in emissions standards, cleaner fuels, vehicle inspection and maintenance as well as efficient transport planning.
The NVECP programme was aimed at reducing air pollution from vehicles and removing cars that are not road worthy from the roads and will be implemented under the Public Private Partnership.
According to her, stickers that are tamper proof  will be placed on vehicles, enforcement officers will make sure the stickers are not counterfeited.