2023-05-26 01:54:00
Nigeria’s new government, due to take office on 29 May, must ensure that Shell’s planned sale of its Niger Delta operations does not lead to a further deterioration of the human rights situation in a region ravaged by decades of oil pollution.
Amnesty International has documented ongoing serious human rights abuses stemming from oil contamination in the area, where Shell has been operating since the 1950s. Amnesty International is concerned that the planned sale will deny an already harmed population access to adequate redress, and which may expose it to much more abuse in the future.
A new report released today, Tainted Sale?recommends a number of safeguards and actions to help protect the rights of people who may be affected by the planned sale of Shell’s oil interests in Niger Delta land, reportedly for around US$3 billion.
Mark Dummett, Director of Business and Human Rights at Amnesty International, said: “For decades, the spills have caused damage to the health and livelihoods of many of the people living in the Niger Delta. Shell should not be allowed to wash its hands of it and walk away like nothing. Shell has made billions from this business and must ensure that its departure does not have negative consequences for the environment and human rights..
“The incoming Nigerian government has a unique opportunity to show that it is committed to respecting and protecting the human rights of its citizens – including the right to an adequate standard of living, to clean water, and to health – by adequately monitoring the sale made by Shell. We also call for access to an effective remedy for people who have suffered longstanding abuses of their rights.
“We urge the new government, led by President Bola Tinubu, to ensure that the sale by Shell does not lead to the company avoiding or limiting its responsibilities. As a condition of the sale, it should require Shell to provide a full assessment of all current contamination in the delta, ensure that it provides satisfactory remediation for any damage caused, and that the company’s concerns are fully assessed and addressed. local population relating to the sales process.
“The government should consider requiring Shell to act as guarantor to ensure that the buyer is in a position to repair damage caused by any future spills and that it makes a commitment to transparency, respect for the environment, consultation with communities, and the limitation of greenhouse gas emissions.
“Obviously, the best option would be to repair the damage caused and phase out production, instead of looking for buyers and extracting every last drop of oil from a region deteriorated for so long by this industry.
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that if the global phase-out of fossil fuels is not accelerated, global temperatures will rise by more than the agreed limit of 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels. . After decades of exploitation, withdrawing production from the Niger Delta would be a step in the right direction.”
For more than 20 years, Amnesty International and partner organizations have conducted research in the Niger Delta that has shown that Shell’s operations have been carried out at the expense of the human rights of the people in the area.
Hundreds of annual discharges from poorly maintained pipelines and wells, along with inadequate cleanup practices, have led to widespread oil contamination of, among other things, groundwater and drinking water sources, agricultural land and fishing grounds, and have damaged the health and livelihoods of many of the people living in the region.
The impact of pollution can be devastating. In 2019, an academic study concluded that oil spills occurring within 10 kilometers of a mother’s place of residence in the Niger Delta doubled neonatal mortality rates and deteriorated the health of surviving children.
Mark Dummett said: “Shell must take steps of its own to ensure effective redress for those whose human rights have been affected by this devastating contamination, and that its divestment plans do not exacerbate the dire situation facing the people of the Niger Delta.”
“International standards, and specifically the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, clearly state that Shell has a responsibility to conduct due diligence on its decision to transfer assets. Their responsibility is independent of any action taken by the Nigerian government.”
Shell denies allegations that it has acted irresponsibly in the Niger Delta, saying it complies with the rules. He previously pointed to improvements in recent years to prevent and clean up oil spills, infrastructure investments, anti-oil theft measures, and greater transparency in reporting spills.
Shell is not solely responsible for the devastating oil pollution plaguing the Niger Delta. There are other actors, for example federal and state authorities, who also have an obligation to ensure that the divestment from Shell does not lead to further harm to human rights.
Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited – Joint Venture (SPDC JV) is one of the largest oil producing companies in Nigeria.
For many years, Shell was the majority owner of this company, but today the main shareholder is the public company Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, which owns 55% of the shares. The rest are owned by international oil company subsidiaries. Shell, through its wholly owned subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Limited, owns 30%, French company Total 10%, and Italian company Eni 5%.
It is important to note that, through SPDC, Shell is the operator of the SPDC JV, which means that it operates and maintains the wells, pipelines and other facilities necessary to produce and transport the oil. The partners finance operations and maintenance in proportion to their participation in the joint venture.
Over the past decade, SPDC JV has sold most of its assets, including oil fields, to several much smaller Nigerian public companies.
Now, Shell intends to sell both its stake in SPDC JV and its operating subsidiary in a deal that includes personnel, facilities and infrastructure, including 263 producing oil wells, 56 producing gas wells and a network of 3,173 kilometers of pipelines.
Following the February 25 elections, the inauguration of Nigeria’s president-elect, Bola Tinubu, 71, of the ruling All-Progressive Congress party, is scheduled for Monday.
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