[sustran] Nigeria: An apology from Royal Dutch Shell

Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory edelman at greenidea.eu
Thu Apr 1 17:04:01 JST 2010


*Nigeria: An apology from Royal Dutch Shell - please see links below for 
full details*

/The Hague, 27 March 2010/

Today, Royal Dutch Shell is holding back the tears no more. Shell 
apologises to all inhabitants of Nigeria's Niger Delta for the many 
years of human rights violations, for which Shell takes full responsibility.

Confronted with massive evidence of human rights violations that can 
only be attributed to its operations in the Niger Delta, Royal Dutch 
Shell is extremely proud to be the first international petrochemical 
company to publicly say:

*We are sorry.*

Since Shell first discovered oil in the Niger Delta in 1956, the company 
has ravished the land and polluted the environment. "We thought these 
people didn't know what was good for them," explains Bradford Houppe, 
Vice-President of Shell's newly established Ethical Affairs Committee. 
"We never knew that we were bringing them impoverishment, conflict, 
abuse and deprivation. Now we know." Shell acknowledges that it is 
responsible for large-scale oil spills, waste dumping and gas flaring. 
Each year, hundreds of oil spills occur, many of which are caused by 
corrosion of oil pipes and poor maintenance of infrastructure. "Our 
failure to deal with these spills swiftly and the lack of effective 
clean-up greatly exacerbate their human rights and environmental 
impact," says Houppe. "And that is wrong. It's just really wrong."

More than 60 per cent of the people in the Niger Delta depend on the 
natural environment for their livelihood. But due to the oil pollution, 
many of them use polluted water to drink and to cook and wash with, and 
eat fish contaminated with oil and other toxins. Oil spills and waste 
dumping have also seriously damaged agricultural land.

The destruction of livelihoods and the lack of redress have led people 
to steal oil and vandalise oil infrastructure in an attempt to gain 
compensation or clean-up contracts. Armed groups engage in large-scale 
theft of oil and the ransoming of oil workers. Government reprisals 
frequently involve excessive force and the collective punishment of 
communities, thus deepening general anger and resentment.

Between 2005 and 2008, the Nigerian government received around $36 
billion in taxes and royalties from Shell. "They have never, not in the 
slightest, held us to account for all the wrong we did," says Houppe. 
"So without taking back any of our apologies, by all means: blame them too!"

A comprehensive Plan of Action, featuring general apologies, detailed 
apologies, apologies in Braille and apologies in rhyme that Shell 
employees will hang on the walls in their offices, will be presented at 
Shell's Annual General Meeting on 18 May 2010 in The Hague.

*For more information see: **http://tinyurl.com/y9xrw5t
and **http://tinyurl.com/2ht3po and **http://tinyurl.com/657jfv*


-- 
--------------------------------------------

Todd Edelman
Green Idea Factory

Urbanstr. 45
D-10967 Berlin
Germany

Skype: toddedelman
Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081

edelman at greenidea.eu
www.greenidea.eu
www.flickr.com/photos/edelman

CAR* is over. If you want it.

"Fort mit der Privatautostadt und was Neues hingebaut!" 
- B. Brecht (with slight modification)

* "Car" is a sub-category of automobile, i.e. one used inappropriately, opportunistically or without creativity



More information about the Sustran-discuss mailing list