Nigeria: Shell can improve impacts in the Niger Delta - new report

Nigeria: Shell can improve impacts in the
Niger Delta - new report

Author: ECCR Press Release
Category: Resource Extraction
Date: 2/16/2010
Source: Ecumenical Council for Corporate
Responsibility
Source Website: www.eccr.org.uk

African Charter Article# 21: All peoples shall
freely dispose of their wealth and natural resources for their
exclusive interest, eliminating all forms of foreign economic
exploitation.

Summary & Comment: The report, Shell in the
Niger Delta: A Framework for Change, published by the Ecumenical
Council for Corporate Responsibility considers how the operations of
Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company
affect the human rights and living conditions of Niger Delta
communities. Its ten recommendations suggest immediate
confidence-building measures and longer-term ways to tackle some of the
challenges. With link to 88 page report. DN

Shell can improve impacts in the Niger Delta, says new report

Shell in the Niger Delta: A Framework for Change - five case
studies from civil society, published by ECCR, February 2010, 88
pp, is available at: www.eccr.org.uk/Sh
ellintheNigerDelta .

As Shell faces a lawsuit in the Netherlands over alleged oil
pollution in Nigeria, a new report published today argues that the oil
giant can and should take both prompt and longer-term action to reduce
the negative social and environmental impacts of its operations in the
Niger Delta. The report, Shell in the Niger Delta: A Framework for
Change, published by church-based investor coalition and
membership organisation the Ecumenical Council for Corporate
Responsibility (ECCR), considers how the operations of Shell’s
Nigerian subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC),
affect the human rights and living conditions of Niger Delta
communities.

Based on case studies researched and written by five civil society
organisations working in the Niger Delta, the report raises concerns
about Shell’s operations in relation to:

• international social and environmental standards,
• pollution l! evels,
• communities’ health and livelihoods, and
• the right of local people to a say in decisions that affect their
  lives.

ECCR acknowledges that many of the problems in the Niger Delta are
the responsibility of the Nigerian government. But it argues that the
report’s ten concluding recommendations offer Shell and its operating
subsidiary SPDC immediate confidence-building measures (quick wins) as
well as longer-term ways to tackle some of the challenges they face.
‘The case studies in our report identify opportunities for Shell to do
things better in the Niger Delta,’ says ECCR Co-ordinator Miles
Litvinoff, who edited the report. ‘After years of unresolved community
tensions, Shell could reap benefits by making accountability to local
people a higher priority.’

Among the report’s most urgent recommendations are:

• an end to gas flaring,
• provision of sustainable drinking water for communities,

!

• action to replace ageing pipelines, and
• commencement of a major environmental audit and rehabilitation
  programme.

  Longer term, the report calls for:

• continuous human rights training for Shell’s Nigerian staff,
• greater respect for principles of open dialogue and community
  consent,
• independent monitoring and
• effective grievance mechanisms.

Senior Shell staff remuneration should be linked to progress on
human rights and environmental challenges in the Delta, ECCR says.
Citing the increasingly recognised corporate duty to respect human
rights by `doing no harm’, the report argues that Shell has both
responsibility and opportunity to improve its operational practices in
Nigeria.

Notes for editors

1. The Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR), PO
   Box 500, Oxford OX1 1ZL, UK, www.eccr.org.uk , is a company
   limited by guarantee in England & Wales (No. 2764183) and a Body in
   Associati! on with Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
2. Shell in the Niger Delta: A Framework for Change - five case
   studies from civil society, published by ECCR, February 2010, 88 pp,
   download available at www.eccr.org.uk/ShellintheNigerDelta
   .
3. Case studies and contributors:
   i. ‘Shell’s Social Licence to Operate: A Case Study of Ogoni’ -
   Legborsi Saro
   Pyagbara, Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP)
   ii. ‘Shell’s Poor Stakeholder Engagement’ - Patrick B. Ereba and
   Boniface B.
   Dumpe, Centre for Social and Corporate Responsibility (CSCR)
   iii. ‘Three Challenges Facing Shell in Nigeria’ - Stakeholder Democracy
   
   Network (SDN)
   iv. ‘Shell in Nigeria: A Conflict Perspective’ - Dr Emmanuel O.
   Emmanuel,
   Trans-Border Missionaries Interface Initiative (TMII)
   v. ‘SPDC’s Global Memorandum of Understanding’ - Tracey Draper,
   Pro-Natura International! (Nigeria) (PNI)
4. Media inquiries:
   Miles Litvinoff, ECCR:
   +44 (0)20 8965 9682,
   +44 (0)7984 720103,
   E. miles.litvinoff@eccr.org.uk

   Case study contributors:

   Boniface Dumpe, CSCR Port Harcourt:
   +234 (0)84 573109 / 468555,
   E. dumpe_bb@yahoo.com
   
   Patrick Ereba, CSCR Port Harcourt:
   +234 (0)84 573109 / 468555,
   E. patrickereba@yahoo.co.uk
   
   Joseph Croft, SDN:
   +44 (0)20 7065 0846,
   +44 (0)7966 755751,
   E. joseph@stakeholderdemocracy.org

5. The report is sponsored by the Netherlands-based international
   development organisation Cordaid.
6. Using the report: ECCR hopes that the report will contribute to
   improvement in the lives of the Niger Delta’s communities by helping
   clarify priorities for Shell and SPDC and providing a framework for
   constructive dialogue and prompt action. ECC! R encourages engagement
   on the part of faith-based and other responsible investors and fund
   managers - and others who seek a more equitable and sustainable global
   economy – in sharing concerns with Shell directors and urging changes
   along the lines recommended.
7. ECCR is a church-based investor coalition and membership
   organisation working for economic justice and environmental
   sustainability. A Body in Association with Churches Together in Britain
   and Ireland, it undertakes research, advocacy and dialogue to encourage
   companies to meet the highest standards of corporate responsibility and
   transparency, as well as assisting faith communities, their members and
   other investors in upholding these same high standards through
   responsible and positive-impact investment.
8. Past ECCR reports:
   Vulnerable Migrant Workers: The Responsibility of Business (2009),
   Water Sustainability: Meeting the Challenge (2008), and
   company reports on:
   Rio Tinto (2006), !
   BHP Billiton (2005),
   GSK (2004),
   AstraZeneca (2003),
   S
   hell (2002) and
   BP (2002).
   E. www.eccr.org.uk/Reports