ABUJA – The Federal Government has raised urgent concerns over the rising tide of respiratory, cardiovascular, and other environment-related illnesses linked to greenhouse gas emissions across Nigeria.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ engagement on the National Emergency Response to Environment-Related Diseases in Abuja on Monday, the Minister of Environment, Mr Balarabe Lawal, said that evidence from health statistics and environmental surveillance paints a “clear and disturbing picture” of the public health burden posed by greenhouse gases.
Represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr Mahmud Kambari, Lawal warned that the growing incidence of environmentally linked diseases is outpacing the capacity of Nigeria’s health system.
Families are spending more on treatment, workforce productivity is falling, and environmental degradation is undermining national development goals, he said.
The minister announced the launch of the National Emergency Response Initiative on Environmental Public Health Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (NERI-EPHIGGE), a coordinated framework aimed at immediate and long-term interventions, including environmental health surveillance, promotion of cleaner energy, sustainable industrial practices, and public awareness campaigns.
Lawal emphasised that addressing the crisis requires collective action from government, industries, and transport and energy sectors.
“The cost of inaction is greater than the cost of intervention. The science is clear, the health evidence is undeniable, the risks are immediate, and the time to act is now,” he said.
He commended the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) for convening the engagement, noting that accelerated urbanization, industrial growth, and rising energy demand, while signs of economic progress, have intensified greenhouse gas emissions with direct and indirect impacts on human health.
