The circular economy, according to environment minister Mallam Balarabe Abbas Lawal, offers the framework for striking a balance between environmental sustainability and development.

The minister made the statement on Thursday in Abuja while giving the keynote lecture at the workshop on integrating the circular economy EU Nigeria into the mining, quarrying, and construction industries that are causing land degradation.

In order to guarantee environmental sustainability, the European Union and the Federal Government collaborated to support the initiative, which is a component of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN.

The minister went on to say that the sectors were essential to Nigeria's economic growth but also that they were linked to land degradation because uncontrolled mining pits, abandoned quarry sites, deforestation, and contaminated environments are all obvious indicators of an imbalance between environmental sustainability and development.

Additionally, he stated that unsustainable development Africa, resource depletion, and uncontrolled extraction from mining, quarrying, and building have a negative impact on their populations, ecosystems, and landscapes.

In order to reverse the trend, the Minister emphasized that the construction sector must prioritize land rehabilitation in mining and quarrying activities and implement circular economy measures to lessen its environmental impact. In order to ensure that mining by-products, such as tailings and waste rocks, are recycled for other industrial applications or building projects, mining and quarrying enterprises must have zero-waste policies.

In his welcome address, Dr. Innocent Barikor, Director General of the Nigeria Environmental Standards and Safety Regulations Agency (NESREA), stated that the circular economy initiatives offers a groundbreaking framework to ensure resource conservation and regeneration, waste-to-resource systems, and sustainable urbanization.

He called on all stakeholders to collaborate in order to guarantee the adoption and promotion of sustainable practices, which would hasten the restoration of their land, the regeneration of our ecosystems, and the preservation of their environment for future generations.

Hon. Terseer Ugbor, the deputy chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Environment, and Senator Akintude Yunus, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment, promised the National Assembly's support for providing the necessary legislative backing for environmental protection in the country.