There is a long history of court cases against fossil fuel companies on human rights issues. For example, the Ogoni community, an ethnic group in the Niger river delta, has brought many court case against Shell because of oil spills, the pollution of rivers that are sources of drinking water as well as sources of income, through fishing. Other court cases they have brought center on prosecuting Shell for complicity in executions, torture and crimes against humanity in bids to repress protests against Shell’s activities in Ogoniland, as well as bribery and corruption in the purchase of oilfields.
In this episode, we will continue our conversation on the role of strategic litigation as a tactic to counter the power of fossil fuel companies at large, and Shell in particular. How effective is litigation in actually holding fossil fuel companies accountable, in terms of historical environmental injustices like pollution in Ogoniland in Nigeria, and in terms of shifting power to oppressed, often racialized communities? Are court cases generally ‘too little, too late,’ or do they have genuinely transformative power? Are they a key tool to move towards a Future Beyond Shell?
Our guest in this second episode on court cases is Celestine AkpoBari, founder of Ogoni Solidarity Forum NIgeria and People Advancement Center.
Show notes
Celestine mentions a number of court cases by various Ogoni communities or villages, as well as one or two brought by other Nigerian communities:
Bodo community:
https://www.leighday.co.uk/latest-updates/cases-and-testimonials/cases/shell-bodo/
Ogale and Bille community:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/12/nigeria-communities-can-bring-claims-against-shell-uk-supreme-court-rules
Goi, Oruma and Ikot Ada Udo communities:
https://en.milieudefensie.nl/news/nigerian-farmers-and-friends-of-the-earth-win-oilpollution-case-against-shell-in-historic-ruling
Ejama-Ebubu:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/08/12/after-decades-oilgiant-shell-agrees-pay-111-million-destruction-nigeria
Ken Saro-Wiwa and MOSOP’s case:
https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/ourcases/wiwa-et-al-v-royal-dutch-petroleum-et-al
The above case was further taken on by widows of the murdered Ogoni Nine:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/06/one-nigerian-widow-vs-shell/
Celestine also mentions the UNEP report of 2011 on the scale of destruction in the Niger Delta region:
https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/disasters-conflicts/where-wework/nigeria/environmental-assessment-ogoniland-report