TY - GEN
T1 - Air Pollution and Solid Waste: Promoting Green and Resilient Recovery in Nigeria
AU - Effiong, Cyril
AU - Kanu, Ejikeme
AU - Dhesi, Surindar
AU - Kuznetsova, Irina
AU - Mahmoud, Saad Mahmoud
AU - Al-Dadah, Raya
AU - Aziz, Andrew N.
PY - 2024/2/14
Y1 - 2024/2/14
N2 - Air pollution has posed a serious health challenge for both developed and developing countries. Through the Paris agreement, countries have developed actions toward net zero carbon emissions. However, developing countries are being confronted with other environmental challenges which seem to make the path to green recovery unrealizable. This scoping literature review examines air pollution and solid waste issues in Nigeria with the view of promoting green and resilient recovery. The review reveals that, there is high dependence on biomass for cooking, and cooking smoke has exposed more than 120 million people to health risks linked to respiratory tract infection, lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, coughing, eye irritation, etc. More so, rapid population growth and the continuous reliance on forest wood for cooking have not only resulted in environmental degradation and deforestation of forest reserves but have increased the challenge of air pollution. Furthermore, solid waste management remains intractable in most Nigerian cities despite the efforts of various state governments. Government policy on solid waste management seems not to be comprehensive as often the contribution of the informal sector, which is the most active player in waste collection, disposal, and recycling is excluded. While it is worrisome that solid waste volumes outweigh the capacity of urban managers with obvious implications on well-being, there are greater opportunities for waste to energy solutions. Nevertheless, available disposal strategies lack the technological capacity to explore engineering solutions for waste management. Therefore, there is a need to promote green recovery through engineering solutions which will ensure the transition to a climate compatible environment that is inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
AB - Air pollution has posed a serious health challenge for both developed and developing countries. Through the Paris agreement, countries have developed actions toward net zero carbon emissions. However, developing countries are being confronted with other environmental challenges which seem to make the path to green recovery unrealizable. This scoping literature review examines air pollution and solid waste issues in Nigeria with the view of promoting green and resilient recovery. The review reveals that, there is high dependence on biomass for cooking, and cooking smoke has exposed more than 120 million people to health risks linked to respiratory tract infection, lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, coughing, eye irritation, etc. More so, rapid population growth and the continuous reliance on forest wood for cooking have not only resulted in environmental degradation and deforestation of forest reserves but have increased the challenge of air pollution. Furthermore, solid waste management remains intractable in most Nigerian cities despite the efforts of various state governments. Government policy on solid waste management seems not to be comprehensive as often the contribution of the informal sector, which is the most active player in waste collection, disposal, and recycling is excluded. While it is worrisome that solid waste volumes outweigh the capacity of urban managers with obvious implications on well-being, there are greater opportunities for waste to energy solutions. Nevertheless, available disposal strategies lack the technological capacity to explore engineering solutions for waste management. Therefore, there is a need to promote green recovery through engineering solutions which will ensure the transition to a climate compatible environment that is inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
KW - Pollution
KW - Solid Waste
KW - Green Recovery
KW - Nigeria
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-031-33863-2_4
DO - 10.1007/978-3-031-33863-2_4
M3 - Conference contribution
SN - 9783031338625
SN - 9783031338656
VL - 1
T3 - Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation
SP - 31
EP - 43
BT - Building Resilient and Healthy Cities
A2 - Pisello, Anna Laura
A2 - Pigliautile, Ilaria
A2 - Lau, Stephen Siu Yu
A2 - Clark, Nancy M.
PB - Springer
CY - Switzerland
T2 - 1st International Conference on Health and Environmental Resilience and Liveability in Cities
Y2 - 20 January 2022 through 21 January 2022
ER -