LEGAL REGIME OF AIRCRAFT ENGINE EMISSIONS IN NIGERIA: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

Abstract

Nigeria’s legal regime of aircraft engine emissions is a novel area. The first Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulation on environmental protection was enacted in 2015, it is barely a decade since emissions from the aviation sector have been regulated in Nigeria. However, this paper is focused on the legal regime of aircraft engine emissions in Nigeria, appraising the laws that ordinarily should make provisions for comprehensive environmental protection within Nigeria. This paper aims to critically examine the statutory provisions relating to aircraft engine emissions in Nigeria. Findings revealed that laws regulating aircraft engine emissions in Nigeria are basically on certification of aircraft engines, and nothing more. Further discoveries show that Nigeria does not have a carbon emission reduction plan apart from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) and the Green-Sky-Green Programme. There is also no action plan for aviation and climate change action. This paper adopted the doctrinal research methodology and it examined laws on aircraft engine emissions in Nigeria. The reduction plan is central and goes beyond the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) and the Green Sky Green initiative. Nigeria should have an aviation and climate change action plan and implement these plans effectively.