The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria FAAN says it is investing in the study and monitoring of air quality in the nation’s airports with the aim of mitigating its negative impacts.
The Managing Director FAAN, Captain Hamisu Yadudu who stated this at the celebration of this year’s World Environment Day by FAAN in Lagos said, many people were battling with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases caused by the quality of air in the environment hazardous to humans.
He said the Agency was working assiduously to ensure that air pollutants arising from the airport Operations were all within the acceptable limits of the World Bank, the Federal Ministry of Environment among others.
The FAAN boss represented by the General Manager, Environment in the agency, Mrs. Janet Omere, noted that between 2009 to date, environmental audits carried out on all the Airports in the country, showed that the amount of Air pollutants was at an acceptable level.
He said the Agency had embraced the initiative of the Airport Council International, ACI on Airport Carbon Accreditation to work to achieve the four levels of carbon accreditations for all Airports, adding that the Murtala Mohammed Airport would complete the level one accreditation before the end of the year while same processes at other airports were ongoing.
“In addition, the FAAN is one major stakeholders working with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority to develop the state Action Plan for the Implementation of Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) in Nigeria. This scheme was another initiative established in 2010 with the adoption of ICAO Assembly Resolution A37-19, which requires the monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) from International Aviation and reporting same to ICAO with the aim of knowing Co2 emissions from International flights only in order to identify appropriate mitigations to reduce the negative impact on air quality”.
Captain Yadudu explained that FAAN was building staff capacity with respect to resource efficiency production in order to cleaner production in order to embrace cultivation in cleaning technology solution that would also impact positively on the outdoor and indoor air quality.
“As an organization, we are still open to more and new ideas on how to further curtail pollutants that cause air pollution as a result of our operations”.
In a lecture entitled, Beat Air Pollution, Prof. Obinna Chukwu of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, said aviation contributes 2 percent of carbon dioxide emission into the environment.
He explained that this percentage was significant and to this end fuel efficient aircraft were being manufactured to reduce the amount of emissions into the air.
“Everything revolves around improving the technology to have fuel efficient and this is also being done in Nigeria, many years ago, we use to aircraft that were over 30 years of age but of recent, the NCAA, have also come in to regulate that. We now have newer aircraft and the newer aircraft have engines that will be able to burn fossil fuel that will reduce emission that go to the air”.
He added, “there are newer versions of aircraft for instance the A380 aircraft, the amount of carbon dioxide that its emits is a lot smaller than even the 777 and at the end of the day, it carries more passengers and that is the reason Boeing came up with 737 MAX”.
Prof. Chuwku noted that in the upgrade of airport infrastructure by government, renewable energy products were being utilized in most aspects of the operations.
He added that an experimental pilot scheme was currently ongoing at five airports with the installation of solar panels to operate the control towers there.
“A lot is being done along that line in addition to other sundry policies that are being put in place to ensure that we have a greener economy”.
“There has been a concerted effort to reduce carbon footprints but the overall emissions have increased over the years because in a developing economies like Nigeria they need to move people around using the airline industry, the airline industry has become imperative in order to improve our developmental effort, the ability to also purchase brand new aircraft is quite limited in developing economies compared to what you have in developed world. I think that we are making considerable effort what is important; do we have the policies in place? Are there regulatory agencies that will enforce these policies? And I think that the answer is yes, gradually, we will there, a lot is being done in that regard”.
Environmentalist present at the event urged government to enforce policies and strengthen the regulatory agencies to reduce carbon emissions into the air.
The event with the theme: ‘Beat Air Pollution’ commenced with a road show from the FAAN headquarters to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport organized by FAAN in collaboration with the Nigerian Environmental Society.
Representatives from other aviation agencies in their goodwill messages commended FAAN for putting together the event and for it efforts in tackling air pollution within its environment
Highlights of the World Environment Day was the presentation of awards to the MD FAAN and other dignitaries present for their unflinching support and commitment to a safe environment free from pollution and a drama presentation by staff of the environment department in FAAN on the need to plant trees, dispose of waste appropriately, avoid bush burning, gas flaring among others.
