Nigeria must not become a dumping ground for air conditioners and refrigerators with energy‑efficiency ratios below internationally accepted minimum performance standards, the federal government declared on Thursday. The United Nations reports that Nigerians purchase about one million air conditioners each year, a figure that is driving up household energy bills and threatening the country’s climate goals.
Speaking at the National Stakeholders’ Consultative Workshop on Energy‑Efficient and Climate‑Friendly Cooling, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Adeleke Momara urged the Nigeria Customs Service, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and other relevant agencies to fulfill their responsibilities. After hearing a presentation by UNEP Programme Management Officer Brian Holuj on the pollution caused by substandard cooling devices, Momara emphasized that enforcement, not just policy, is crucial. “We may have beautiful policies and laws, but what matters most is the zeal for implementation,” she said. “If the minimum energy performance standard is not complied with, we cannot achieve results. Enforcement agencies must be alive to their duties.”
Momara noted that the workshop, organized by the Energy Commission of Nigeria and UNEP, aims to promote best practices in energy efficiency for the cooling sector. UNEP officials have flown into Nigeria to support the transition from inefficient appliances to those that meet the country’s climate‑mitigation commitments. “Nigeria is the largest market in Africa for cooling devices,” she explained. “With a growing population, rising living standards, urbanisation and increasing global warming, demand for air conditioners, refrigerators and other cooling equipment will continue to surge, making Nigeria one of the fastest‑growing markets worldwide.”
Unfortunately, most air conditioners used in the country have energy‑efficiency ratios below the internationally acceptable minimum performance standard. Momara called on customs, the Standards Organisation and other agencies to ensure that Nigeria does not become a dumping ground for products that fail to meet these standards.
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