Exporting Air Pollution: Stories behind Second-hand Vehicle Trading in Nigeria

By Beth Holloway

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Almost half of the 7.5 million second-hand vehicles exported from the EU annually go to African countries, according to the UN Environment Programme. These vehicles can release up to 90% more emissions than new cars, as they run with less fuel-efficient engines, and they have worn-down tires and old ignition coils. As a result, 80% of these second-hand vehicles fall short of meeting the Euro 4 Emission Standards (the 2005 regulation on harmful vehicle emissions) and are significantly detrimental to air quality. The reuse program affects the health of citizens and impacts greenhouse gas emissions in both European and African nations, with heavy emitters facing more significant emissions requirements.

In order to meet the aims of the Paris Agreement, vehicles must be entirely decarbonised by 2050 and sales of cars with internal combustion engines must end by 2035. As Europe prepares for this milestone with technological investment in electrical vehicles, its older cars are hindering its efforts to curb emissions. Hence the need for the reuse program, thinly veiled as an attempt to promote the development of transportation overseas. Its unregulated nature – which permits cars with an average age of 20 years to be sold on – allows Europe to export heavily polluting vehicles overseas and thus evade the emissions associated with the driving and disposal of old vehicles. European countries can then continue mandating for cleaner, more efficient vehicles at home - a move that disregards environmental accountability and transfers the problem onto African countries.

Before exportation, many suppliers illegally remove the pollution controls, airbags, anti-lock braking systems or catalytic converters (which have a platinum value of $500) from vehicles to sell on the black market. These alterations make the old cars unroadworthy - and then they are sold on for reuse.

BBC News article featuring old cars that have been exported from Europe.

Second-hand Vehicles in Nigeria

Over 90% of cars in Nigeria are second-hand imports. These vehicles contribute to an existing smog-filled environment caused by burning waste and using solid fuel for cooking. One resident in the capital, Lagos, commented: “It is affecting my breathing and my eyes… I’m really feeling it – it’s not good.” Another stated: “The smoke is unbelievable… it is getting out of hand”.

According to the World Bank, 94% of Nigeria's population are exposed to levels of air pollution that far exceed World Health Organisation guidelines, with some places reaching almost four times the safe levels.

A resident of Port Harcourt, Southern Nigeria, Andy Obuoforibo explains: “We the citizens are paying for it [unregulated air pollution]…with our lives and with our health.”

The Southern city of Onitsha is now the most polluted city in the world, with pollution figures 30 times worse than London. The air quality in Onitsha measures at 594 micrograms per m³ of PM10 particles and 66 micrograms per m³ of PM2.5 particles, leaving residents at severe risk of developing breathing difficulties. The more dangerous, finer particulate matter (PM2.5) is specifically related to vehicle emissions and can settle deep within a person’s lungs, disrupting their breathing.

Once inhaled, this fine particulate matter that comes from fuel combustion inflames the lining of the lungs and causes permanent damage. With researchers finding that living in a polluted area makes dying from Covid-19 more likely, the risk of the pandemic to Nigerian residents is heightened. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, says that the pandemic only exacerbates “the reality of everyday life in Nigeria. People are used to a lot of difficulties.”

Busy street in Nigeria, featured in ‘The Bespoke Experience’

In an echo of previous exploitation of Nigeria at the hands of British colonial rule, Europe presents its environmental profiteering as an altruistic service providing technological advancement. More of a concerted effort to release themselves from environmental burdens, Europe’s reuse program actually stifles technological growth as the vehicle market is so dominated by second-hand vehicles.

At the heart of this is the people themselves, facing such poor air quality that on average 150 out of every 100,000 people are killed by air pollution. By comparison, Germany experiences 22 deaths per 100,000. While the reuse program does have international implications for the climate agreements that bind countries to reduce emissions, the real tragedy lies with these individuals who will be impacted. People living in cities with such severe levels of air pollution are at high risk of falling ill due to lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and, more recently, Covid-19.

In the words of Hadassah Egbedi, a journalist working in Onitsha: “‘When a lorry zooms past, kicking up yet another red cloud of dirt, a trader turns the head of a sleeping toddler away from the road, a protective act that is as poignant as it is pointless.”