NPRA Holds Workshop On Cleaner Fuels And Vehicles
National Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NPRA) with support United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held a workshop on cleaner fuel and vehicles at Atlantic Lumley Hotel on Monday 3rd August.
In his statement, Managing Director of NPRA said that the workshop is convened to chat Sierra Leone’s pathway towards aligning its national fuel and vehicle standards with the ECOWAS Directives C/DIR.1/9/2020 and C/DIR.2/9/2020.
He said that air pollution from vehicle emissions and substandard fuels is one of the most pressing environmental and public health challenges facing their region, noting that in response, the fifteen Member States of ECOWAS with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other partners, undertook a multi-year process to develop harmonized standards for fuels and vehicles across the sub-region.
“This process climaxed with the adoption of two landmark Directives by the ECOWAS Council of Ministers in September 2020. The first, C/DIR.1/9/2020, establishes harmonized specifications for imported petrol and diesel, including a significant reduction of Sulphur content limit, to curb the importation and circulation of dirty fuels within the region,” he said.
Adding that, “the second, C/DIR.2/9/2020, sets minimum emission standards, equivalent to Euro 4/IV, for both new and used vehicles entering ECOWAS Member States, alongside age limits for imported vehicles.”
Koroma explained that these two Directives represent a coordinated regional response to a shared problem, noting that fuel quality and vehicle emission standards are two sides of the same coin and that improving the quality of fuels without addressing the vehicles that burn them, or vice versa, will not deliver the health and environmental benefits that they seek.
“Aligning our national regulatory framework with the ECOWAS Directives is not simply a matter of regional compliance; it is fundamentally about protecting the health of our people, safeguarding our environment, and positioning Sierra Leone to participate fully and fairly in an increasingly integrated regional petroleum market,” he said.
We must be candid about the work that lies ahead. Domesticating these Directives will require close collaboration between the NPRA and all MDAs present. It also requires a constructive engagement with oil marketing companies and vehicle dealers, as well as public sensitization, capacity building, and, where necessary, investment in testing and enforcement infrastructure.
Progamme Management Officer of UNEP, Jane Akumu said that 2022 Report on State of Global air stated that 8.1 million people died from air pollution of which over 4.4 million died from outbound air every year.
She explained that the first ever fuel condition monitoring in Africa in Uganda in 2024 noted that vehicles on the road in Uganda pollute 20-50 times than the Euro 4 Standard.
“Despite Africa has the least fleet of 3%, it has the highest road fatalities. Regulators in Africa have to put policy to import clean fuel and vehicles,” she said.
ECOWAS and other government representatives also made statement at the Workshop.
