In the face of daunting environmental degradation, the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, said the Circular Economy provides the framework for the balance between development and environmental sustainability.
He made this disclosure during his Keynote address on Thursday at a workshop on Mainstreaming Circular Economy in Land Degradation Sectors of Construction, Mining and Quarrying, organized by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) in collaboration with the European Union, in Abuja.
Lawal noted that the sectors were vital to Nigeria’s economic development.
“unregulated mining pits, exhausted quarry sites, deforestation, and polluted environments are clear signs of the imbalance between development and environmental sustainability”
“Our landscapes, ecosystems and communities bear the brunt of unchecked extraction, resource depletion and unsustainable development due to construction, mining and quarrying,” he added.
The Minister stressed the need for the construction industry to adopt circular economy strategies to reduce its environmental footprint, insisting “We must prioritize land rehabilitation in mining and quarrying operations. Mining and quarrying companies must adopt zero-waste policies, ensuring that mining by-products, such as tailings and waste rocks are repurposed for other industrial uses or construction projects.”
Responding, the Director General of NESREA, Dr. Innocent Barikor, emphasised that the circular economy offers a transformative framework to ensure resource conservation and regeneration, waste-to-resource systems, and sustainable urbanization.”
He called for the collaboration of all stakeholders to ensure the adoption and promotion of sustainable practices to speed up “the restoration of our land, regeneration of our ecosystems, and protection of our environment for future generations.”
On his part, chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment, Sen. Akintude Yunus, and the Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Environment, Hon. Terseer Ugbor, pledged the support of the National Assembly towards providing the necessary legislative backing for environmental protection in the country.
