Clean Up Ogoni! With the exception of Ogoniland, oil is still being produced in the Niger Delta, and the environment as well as residents’ health is being affected by oil spills and the flaring of natural gas. Will the “Clean Up Ogoni” campaign set a precedent?
In June 2016, Nigeria’s vice-president signalled the first five years of the planned clean-up of the oil-polluted Niger Delta – one of the largest such operations in the world. The cost of the programme will run into the billions and, according to the United Nations (UN), it may have to continue for 30 years. The ambitious project is being undertaken in reaction to a report released by the UN’s environmental programme (UNEP) in 2011. In it, scientists outlined in much detail how, for decades, Ogoniland had experienced pollution on a massive scale, affecting the health and the livelihoods of its inhabitants.
Responsibility clearly rests with a consortium made up of the state-run Nigerian oil company NNPC and international oil firms, most prominently Shell. Up until 1993, when oil production was finally halted after years of protest by the Ogoni people, 900 million barrels worth about 30 billion US dollars had been produced. Today, the companies involved will have to share in footing the bill for the clean-up.
With the exception of Ogoniland, oil is still being produced in the Niger Delta, and the environment as well as residents’ health is being affected by oil spills and the flaring of natural gas. Will the “Clean Up Ogoni” campaign set a precedent?
This, and other questions, will be the focus of our talk. Under the catchphrase “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) there is much talk about how companies may act in ways that respect the wider needs of society. Is “Clean Up Ogoni” a model example for such responsible behaviour? What preconditions will have to be met in order to master this giant task? In what ways will Ogoni communities be able to participate? And, what actual processes are in place, including on the international level, to make companies accountable for pollution and human rights abuses?
With:
Nnimmo Bassey, Environmental activist, co-winner of the Right Livelihood Award 2010, poet, Benin City, Nigeria
Sarah Lincoln, Policy Advisor Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Bread for the World, Berlin
Moderator: Dagmar Dehmer, Journalist, Der Tagespiegel, Berlin
Heinrich-Böll-Foundation in cooperation with Bread for the World.
Please note: This event will also be transmitted as livestream.
DATE:
Thursday, November 24, 2016 – 18:30 – 20:00
EVENT CITY:
Berlin
ADDRESS:
HEINRICH-BÖLL-STIFTUNG – BUNDESSTIFTUNG BERLIN
Schumannstr. 8
10117
Berlin
DIRECTION LINK:
Map
ENTRANCE FEE/ATTENDANCE FEE:
free
ORGANIZER:
Heinrich-Boell-Stiftung – Head Quarter Berlin
LANGUAGE (AT THE EVENT):
English
Information/contact:
Beate Adolf
Africa Department
Heinrich-Böll-Foundation
E adolf@boell.de
culled from: Heinrich-Boell-Stiftung