What next for Shell in the Niger-Delta?

Shell Niger-Delta

Africa has an abundance of a particular natural resource that should have brought with it economic riches and a smoother pathway to social stability, much like the very same resource has done in many states in the Middle East. Instead the discovery of crude oil beneath the surface of many countries on the continent has brought with it political corruption, social chaos and serious environmental damage.

The situation that has emerged in the Niger Delta involving oil giant Shell has been highly unfortunate and very damaging to the industry as a whole, at a time when the commodities sector's image is at an all time low already as a result of increasing focus on the issues of climate change.

A new report, titled: Shell in the Niger Delta: a Framework for Change - published on February 16 by the church-based investor coalition and membership organization, the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR) - on how the operations of an oil producing company is affecting the human rights and living conditions in the Niger Delta calls for swift and significant change in the region.

One of the world's most polluted regions

Shell have been advised to stop gas flaring, provide clean drinking water and clean up the legacy of oil spills, polluted land and waterways in one of the most oil-polluted environments in the world.

Since the company began extracting oil in the Delta in the 1950s an estimated 1.5 million tonnes of oil have been spilled. This has occurred alongside the practice of gas flaring, burning off natural gas that rises to the surface as oil is extracted from under the ground emitting huge amounts of carbon as a result.

Friends of the Earth and Amnesty International have both been vocal critics of Shell's operations in the Delta, as the serious environmental damage can lead to serious health problems.

Limiting impact

Shell must now step up efforts to limit its impact on the area and the company must take full advantage of its ability to generate jobs while also developing regional training programmes in order to create greater future opportunities for citizens.

Now is the time to tip the balance in the oil industries favour by ensuring the benefits of the sector's presence in Africa eventually outweigh the costs.

Shell insist the reports is not a "sufficiently complete or balanced assessment of its activities" and argued that "the primary and overriding authority and responsibility" for what takes place in the Niger Delta rests with the state. This, in a large part, is true but Shell still have a duty to help clean up the on-going legacy of its oil operations in the Niger Delta, and I'm sure they take this responsibility very seriously.

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Daniel Jones

Daniel is a Politics and Philosophy graduate from Cardiff University where he also worked as a section editor on the award winning student newspaper. After university he joined an IT support company where he was a B2B online writer. He loves anything to do with sport and joined GDS in July 2009.

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