Shell s Corporate Social Responsibility in the Niger Delta

Transcription

1 Shell s Corporate Social Responsibility in the Niger Delta Attn: Basil Omiyi, Country Chair for Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director Shell Petroleum Development of Nigeria (SPDC) By: Breane Coble 1 June 2007 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Currently the Niger Delta is an unstable environment where ethnic disputes and conflict over oil revenues has resulted in a corporate social responsibility for Shell Oil. There are three possible recommendations to be made for this situation, the first of which is to promote further cooperation with the Nigerian government to ensure a peaceful resolution to the situation. Another option is to improve transparency in order to avoid human rights violations and resource exploitation. Finally, Shell could continue to handle the situation as it already has been and see if any new outcomes develop.

2 ISSUE The Niger Delta is a region in Nigeria fuelled by inter-ethnic disputes in which access to oil revenue causes greater conflict. Nigeria is the world s sixth largest oil-producing nation, however, pipelines are vandalized resulting in loss of thousands of barrels of crude oil a day or millions of dollars to the economy resort to violence in order to receive their perceived compensation. Oil Company properties are invaded, employees kidnapped, and facilities shut down. Oil companies are then forced to pay the ransom to release captured personnel, and due to their willingness to pay these ransoms disruptions only continue. each year. HISTORY OF THE CONLICT The roots of the conflict can be traced back to colonial times in which the Delta communities gained financially from controlling trade between the interior and the coast, mostly in the slave trade. Due to increasing economic collapse in the region, warring ethnic groups find oil companies to be tempting targets leading aggravated youths to With independence and decline in need for slaves, Nigeria lost its prosperity and no new wealth developed to replace the old trade.

3 In recent times, the financial shortcomings of the area are due to the failure of previous administrations to share oil royalties with poverty stricken Niger Delta region. This resulted in economic backwardness for the area. If the promised 13% of royalties on oil production are actually paid to the Delta region then development could not only improve but also alleviate the violence in the region. CHRONOLOGY o December 1998 State of Emergency in response to violence declared in Bayelsa State in Niger Delta region o March 2003 forced withdrawal of major oil companies from the region o By mid-august % of country s oil output shut down o 25 September 2004 Nigerian Oil Crisis begins o 26 September 2004 Shell evacuated 235 personnel from its oil fields o 15 June 2005 six Shell workers kidnapped o December 2005 Pipeline blown up, Shell forced to delay crude shipments out of Nigeria o January 2006 onwards Military Group demands $1.5 billion in compensation from Shell for the pollution they allegedly caused, and continue to attack oil facilities and kidnap oil workers in an attempt to gain more control over the region s oil wealth o April Umaru Yar'Adua, of People s Democratic Party, wins presidential election SHELL S CURRENT POSITION Shell believes the conflict to be caused by poverty, historical neglect, and aspirations by politicians. Their view is that the situation should be handled through dialogue along with providing infrastructure and employment. Furthermore, Shell is working with communities and governments at all levels, as well as

4 domestic and international organizations in order to promote peace in the Niger Delta region. Violence and use of force will not be used in any situation, regardless if oil disruption will occur. According to the company, it is the responsibility of the government to uphold the law and maintain peace through policing and other means. Movement for Survival of Ogoni People The Ogoni People are just one such people campaigning to Shell for their right to control and receive a far proportion of Ogoni oil revenues. Shell agrees that the Ogoni need a greater proportion of the oil revenues for development reasons, but has decided that the matter should be dealt with by the Nigerian government. Within the area, Shell has offered to clean-up spills that occurred after the company withdrew, to help with development projects, and advocated further discussion between oil companies and local communities. Gas Flares Shell is committed to eliminating gas flaring in its operations in Nigeria by exporting gas to overseas Liquefied Natural gas projects, and creating such facilities within Nigeria. Furthermore, 4

5 any land damaged by oil spills and oil production will be rehabilitated to an internationally agreed environmentally acceptable condition. This process is known as remediation. RECOMMENDATIONS The first recommendation is for Shell to: o To continue in helping with infrastructure and development projects, but to make the documentation and analysis of this work to be more accessible to community groups and more transparent. o To follow the rules of international and domestic courts in terms of environmental claims, and to continue to not only carry out the remediation program but to also pay compensation awards for pollution where required. o Release more information to the public and be more transparent in such ways as releasing detailed public reports of expenditure, as well as costs for development programs and payments made to the governments and military/community groups. o For Shell to continue to not support the idea of payments to military groups in order to protect oil installations, or the use of military groups in any manner. o To end paying communities instead of the country, and for Shell to continue to work through the government to apply pressure in order for oil revenues to be distributed fairly. o To encourage the government to include local participation and to promote further private ownership by communities in the Niger Delta region. The second recommendation for Shell is: o To provide transparent documentation that publicly demonstrates all payments made to the Nigerian and other foreign governments. This should be done through the Group of Eight (G8) countries in order to provide legitimacy. o To encourage the Nigerian government to find a peaceful solution between the warring ethnic tribes and provide equal protection of rights under law. 5

6 o Continue to support the Nigerian government providing security to the region, and to not use its own military force in order to avoid human rights violations. o To fund an association that will ensure that current and future elections will be diplomatic and fair so that minimum international standards are met in order for the ethnic tribes to be ensured equal representation. o Support and initiate conflict resolution within the region along with the support of the government in order to improve the political atmosphere of the area. o To fund independent human rights groups within the region to provide unbiased evidence of human rights abuses, provide international recognition of the situations occurring, and further encourage the government to take actions against those that perpetrate human rights abuses. o To continue to provide relief assistance to those affected by the conflict caused by oil disputes throughout the Niger Delta. o To ensure that the government quit providing military equipment to the Nigerian military until the Nigerian government shows a willingness to prosecute those responsible for major human rights abuses that have occurred since the conflict began in o To ensure that the transparency in oil exploitation be increased so that illegal oil bunkering, which helps fuel the violence, can be curtailed. The third recommendation for Shell is to solely continue with the current Shell policy; however, this is only as a last resort and if Shell does not want to help promote peace in the area or further its corporate social responsibility. Also, this would be the ideal recommendation should Shell decide to completely withdraw from Nigeria, or to continue to refrain from starting up Shell projects again at full status until the security issues have been addressed. 6

7 Works Cited "About Shell Nigeria." Shell Nigeria. 28 May 2007 < This site helped to provide the current Shell philosophy on the conflict in the Niger Delta region. Fuelling the Niger Delta Crisis. Africa Report, May 2007 < This source provided information to make a possible policy recommendation for the situation in the Niger Delta. Manby, Bronwen. The Price of Oil: Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Rights Violations in Nigeria's Oil Producing Communities. London: Human Rights Watch, May 2007 < This source provided information on the possible policy recommendations that could be made for the current situation. Pike, John. "Nigeria - Niger Delta." Global Security. 17 Dec May 2007 < This source provided background information to the conflict, as well as chronology information. "Timeline: Nigeria." BBC News 23 Apr May 2007 < This provided information for the chronology part of the policy brief. 7