In this guest blog post, Professor Anna Zalik of York University Canada explores how governments and multinationals criminalise protest and gloss over the environmental injustices of oil extraction.

Q: What does the Canadian Government’s fury at opponents of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline have to do with the Nigerian ‘legaloil’ campaign?

A: Both positions are about justifying private profits and criminalizing protest.

The Nigerian government raised fuel prices on 1 January 2012, an act that led to a national strike and widespread protest among a mass movement, at times identifying as Occupy Nigeria. For about a decade the oil multinationals in Nigeria have tacitly endorsed a campaign, supported through industry consultants, to describe their production as “legal”. This use of the term ‘legal’ aimed  to counter the call for ‘resource control’ among a youth insurgency movement which partly supported itself off the trade in contraband oil. Like a range of social and environmental rights organizations in Nigeria and internationally, the youth insurgency in the Delta rose from opposition to the social and ecological  injustices that secured private-industry contracts to lift Nigerian oil.  During the height of the Ogoni movement and following Ken Saro Wiwa’s judicial murder in 1995, there was widespread consensus that the partnership between the Nigerian State and the multinational oil industry was ‘unjust’ regardless of whether or not it was ‘legal’.

In the aftermath of the Saro Wiwa’s execution, the Niger Deltan movements became increasingly militant. Escalations in the ‘oil war’ in the Niger Delta from 2004 onward were accompanied by a campaign by the oil industry operating in Nigeria to reframe their activities as socially-responsible and to label resistance movements criminal. In contrast to the sympathetic portrayal of the Ogoni uprising in the 1990s, or the 2002 “Women’s sit-in” against Chevron (in which a group of women threatened to disrobe on a platform), armed militia activity in the Delta came to be depicted internationally as a kind of ‘competitive thuggery’.

Part of the strategy for criminalizing protest involved the transnational oil companies pathologizing Niger Deltan unarmed protest not only externally and internationally, but also in the minds of those most subject to the ravages of oil extraction. Some residents of the Delta’s riverine region would refer to any facility takeover or shutdown as ‘violence’, a view promoted by industry in its emphasis on avoiding work stoppages and outlawing demonstrations. Mainstream media and policy analysts played a role in this criminalization, through the use of terms like terrorism to describe the deepening ungovernability of the region. Ultimately, if a key tactic of unarmed resistance movements – like blockades – became known as ‘violent’ protest, civil disobedience – which garnered international sympathy -would become an ineffective strategy: it is unsurprising that the Niger Deltan resistance movements became increasingly radicalised.

The web site Legaloil.com promotes the discursive and material criminalization of the oil bunkering trade in the Nigerian context – equating it with conflict diamonds. The legaloil website was established in 2002-3 when control of the contraband trade was said to have slipped increasingly out of the hands of the military and oil industry employees that previously directed it, into those of the armed youth that formerly served as their henchmen. Legaloil.com functions as a directly ‘global’ intervention that presents data concerning bunkered shipments (the source of which is hard to verify or monitor, but becomes ‘real’ once presented as graphs and tables), tracks threats and attacks on installations, and endorses chemical fingerprinting as means to distinguish between licit and ‘illicit’ oil. The site also seeks to present its data, and its proposals, as legitimated by Nigerian sources. Indeed, to be successful internationally, the ‘legal oil’ label requires reshaping the way exploitation in the Niger Delta is understood locally and globally so that ‘abusive’ relations of extraction come to be associated with bunkering activities, rather than the (state-sanctioned) operations of multinational oil companies so criticized in the 1990s.

Yet despite such efforts, the armed strategy of the Niger Deltan insurgency was partially successful in transferring resources to its leadership, although not to the average Niger Deltan or Nigerian.  The Deltan insurgency has been subdued since the  rise to the presidency of a Niger Deltan, Goodluck Jonathan, an outcome that would have been unthinkable a decade earlier. But as international attention to resistance in the Delta waned, so has international attention to corporate malpractice there. In the past month, Shell and Chevron operations in Nigeria have seen two major ‘accidents’, neither of which have received much attention in the global media.  Unfortunately, despite such business-as-usual in terms of the oil industry’s effects, some former insurgent leaders in fact supported Jonathan in critiquing the mass protests against the removal of fuel subsidies. Key Niger Deltan activists have endorsed Occupy Nigeria, however.

The Canadian government has endorsed a parallel campaign to Legaloil.com so as to whitewash the tar sands, in reaction to a transnational movement opposing its social and ecological impacts. The Harper government has relied on Ezra Levant (Canada’s answer to Rush Limbaugh) and his poorly informed, orientalist book to try to rebrand the tar sands as Ethical Oil. This campaign persists despite serious accidents whose costs are absorbed by Canada’s Indigenous people. A recent example is the oil spill on Lubicon territory in Alberta last May which was hushed up in the national media just days before the federal election.

Opposition to Canadian tar sands expansion, as in the case of support for Niger Deltan environmental rights groups in the 1990s, is both domestic and international. Western Canadian aboriginal groups, social justice and environmental movements have come out in droves to speak against the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline in hearings, acts that Canada’s government has labeled tainted by ‘foreign money’.  This week, a staff person of a far-from-radical Canadian environmental NGO signed a sworn affidavit concerning how the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office had described them as an ‘enemy of the people’ to their main funder. Opponents to tar sands expansion, it would seem, are increasingly “illegal”, according to Harper’s government.

Ultimately the protesters in Canada, like the Nigerian mass movement calling for a repeal of the fuel price hikes, call for a combination of resource and ecological sovereignty. They demand that restrictions on, and distribution of, oil and gas industry profits are made in the name of the public justice. They protest the ‘legally’ mandated extractive profiteering, of private industry-state partnerships in oil, gas and mining – profiteering which is increasingly understood as corporate theft of common property.

Canada’s Dirty and Dangerous Oil Sands

EthicalOil.org has a reputation for using just about anything to promote Canada’s tar sands. The local mayor, Aboriginals and environmentalists have all been thrust into EthicalOil.org’s narrative, some against their will. This Monday it was my turn to get ‘tarred’ as the website’s spokesperson Kathryn Marshall declared herself to be on “the very same page” as me. The assertion could not be further from the truth.

I work for Platform, a UK based charity that is opposed to the exploitation of tar sands in Canada. We focus our campaigning efforts on key UK companies that are heavily invested in the tar sands, including BP, Shell and the Royal Bank of Scotland. We work with global allies such as Indigenous Environmental Network and Rainforest Action Network. We also oppose the ongoing human rights abuses and environmental devastation caused by Shell and its partners in Nigeria and beyond.

Continue reading here.

Environment groups criticize Shell CEO van der Veer for undermining Climate Policies

Brussels, Amsterdam, London, Washington – 29th June 2009

Fresh evidence of oil giant Shell’s colossal contribution to global climate change and its continued investment in carbon intensive fossil fuels has been revealed today in a new report.[1] The report also reveals new internal documents that show that Shell knew of the environmental dangers of gas flaring in Nigeria more than fifteen years ago, but chose not to stop for purely financial reasons.

As Shell’s new Chief Executive, Peter Voser, takes charge this week, Friends of the Earth, Oil Change International and PLATFORM have released new research showing that despite attempts by outgoing CEO, Jeroen van der Veer, to portray a green image, the company has opted for a way forward that is in stark contradiction with the need to reduce CO2 emissions. Shell’s heavy investments in the most carbon-emitting energy sources, such as tar sands, liquefied natural gas and crude oil from Nigeria – which is associated with huge levels of gas flaring – make it the dirtiest of all major oil companies with regard to CO2 emissions.

The three campaign groups call on the EU and the US to stop listening to Shell in discussions of how to tackle climate change. They say van der Veer has personally led lobby efforts in Brussels against improvements to the EU’s Emission Trading System, and threatened to move refineries out of Europe if Shell and other oil companies were made to pay for their emissions.

Paul de Clerck from Friends of the Earth International said: “Shell attempts to paint itself as a sustainable company when in reality it is the dirtiest oil producer of all. It continues to make huge profits but still argues that it cannot afford to pay for effective CO2 reduction measures. The EU should no longer listen to Shell in talks about tackling climate change.”

Since 1996 Shell has promised to stop gas flaring in Nigeria – the biggest contributor to climate change in sub-Saharan Africa. But the company has repeatedly broken its promises and rejected statements by the Nigerian government that flaring should be stopped. Shell refuses to implement the 2011 deadline imposed by the Nigerian government for phasing out gas flaring and is now speaking about a 2013 phase out.

Steve Kretzmann from Oil Change International said: ‘Shell could stop flaring gas in Nigeria for only 10% of last years’ profit for the company. The company’s new head, Peter Voser, has the power to stop gas flaring, spare Nigerians from inhaling deadly toxins, and help to curb climate change in one stroke. The question is: will he?”

Today’s report, ‘Shell’s Big Dirty Secret’, comes after a global backlash against the energy giant’s abuses of human rights and the environment. On June 8, Shell was forced to pay $15.5 million to settle an embarrassing lawsuit in the US for human rights abuses in Nigeria. The company is also facing legal action in The Hague concerning repeated oil spills which have damaged the livelihoods of Nigerian fisherfolk and farmers.

CONTACT:

Belgium: Paul de Clerck, Friends of the Earth International:
+32-494-38-09-59 or paul@milieudefensie.nl

Netherlands: Anne van Schaik, Friends of the Earth Netherlands,
+31-20-5507387, +31-6-21829589, anne.van.schaik@milieudefensie.nl

U.S. (DC): Steve Kretzmann, Oil Change International, +1-202-497-1033;
steve@priceofoil.org

U.K. (London): Ben Amunwa, PLATFORM, +44-207-357-0055, +44-7891-454-714,
ben@remembersarowiwa.com

NOTES:
The report, ‘Shell’s Big Dirty Secret’ is available HERE.

# # #

Visit www.ShellGuilty.com for more information. The ShellGuilty campaign is a global coalition including Friends of the Earth (www.foei.org), Oil Change International (www.priceofoil.org), and PLATFORM’s remember saro-wiwa project (www.remembersarowiwa.com), with support from environmental and human rights groups in Nigeria, North America, and Europe.

Shell gas flare at Rumuekpe which sits just next to a large community and is surrounded by agricultural land.

London & Den Haag

With one week to go until Shell stand trial in New York for human rights abuses including the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa, activists will turn up the heat on Shell at their AGM next Tuesday 19th May. Spectacular fire-breathing performance and protests in London will bring Shell’s gas flaring in the Niger Delta to the attention of shareholders. Campaigners will petition investors, angry at the company’s generous remuneration package, to demand that Van der Veer’s pension go towards ending the harmful practice of gas flaring.

The protest is organised by ShellGuilty, a new coalition including Friends of the Earth, Oil Change International, PLATFORM and remember saro-wiwa which is pressing for an end to Shell’s environmental irresponsibility and human rights abuses. The protest marks the start of an International Week of Action against Shell’s abuses, bringing together activists from across the globe. The campaign’s chief demand is an end to gas flaring in the Niger Delta. The practice poisons communities, emits huge amounts of greenhouse gases, and wastes approximately $2.5 billion of natural gas annually.

Richard Howlett campaigner at PLATFORM said: “Shareholders need to start worrying more about Shell’s impact on the planet than the impact of the company’s pension packages on their pockets. Shell are planning to invest $5bn in tar sands – the dirtiest means of oil extraction. This money would more than cover the cost of ending gas flaring in Nigeria. Shell needs to wake up to its responsibility for environmental devastation’

Anne van Schaik of Friends of the Earth Netherlands said: “In addition to the trial in New York, Shell also faces legal action in the Netherlands, the first time Shell has had to defend itself in a Dutch court. Friends of the Earth Netherlands and Nigerian plaintiffs are bringing an action over repeated oil spills in the Niger Delta.”

“We hope the Dutch judge will decide that Shell HQ is accountable for the company’s operations worldwide and that the company will be forced to clean up the pollution and compensate the victims properly.”

Steve Kretzmann from Oil Change International added: ‘We are glad to see Shell finally being held to account for their human rights abuses in this month’s trial. But for justice to really be done the illegal gas flaring Ken Saro Wiwa died fighting against must end’.

CONTACT:

U.K.: Richard Howlett, Platform, +44-207-357-0055, +44-7960-456-594, richard@remembersarowiwa.com

Netherlands: Anne van Schaik, Friends of the Earth Netherlands, +31-20-5507387, +31-6-21829589, anne.van.schaik@milieudefensie.nl

NOTES:

The London protest and performance will take place at 9.30am GMT on Tuesday 19th May at the Silk Street entrance to the Barbican Centre. Pictures will be available afterwards.

Gas flares are open-air fires that burn natural gas that is released when oil is extracted from the ground. A World Bank study concluded that flaring in the Rivers and Delta states in Nigeria releases 35 million tons of carbon dioxide and 12 million tons of methane each year – equivalent to the annual global warming pollution of 56 coal plants or 47 million cars. Gas flares are toxic and harmful to human health, which is why they are strictly regulated in countries such as the United States or the UK But because such flaring is cheap when environmental and human costs are not taken into consideration, Shell and other oil companies have burned gas flares continuously for decades in countries like Nigeria.

Ken Saro-Wiwa was a writer and leading activist demanding rights for Nigeria’s Ogoni people, including an end to Shell’s gas flaring in Ogoni regions. As a result of his activism, Saro-Wiwa was detained, imprisoned and tortured throughout the early 1990s. On November 10, 1995, Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists were executed by the Nigerian government for their campaigning. Substantial evidence indicates Shell collaborated with the Nigerian government in a campaign of brutal crackdowns that culminated in the execution of Saro-Wiwa and his colleagues. Shell will be forced to face this evidence in US federal district court in New York City in a trial that begins May 26th. On April 23rd, Judge Kimba Wood rejected Shell’s last-ditch attempt to avoid trial, rejecting the company’s claim that the court did not have jurisdiction to consider the case.

For more information visit www.ShellGuilty.com.

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PLATFORM is a U.K.-based campaign group focusing on the impact of the oil and gas industry on the rights of local communities. PLATFORM’s remember saro-wiwa project aims to create a permanent Living Memorial to Ken Saro-Wiwa in London and to raise awareness about the ongoing environmental and social devastation of the Niger Delta by oil companies, particularly Shell.

Friends of the Earth International (www.foei.org) is the world’s largest grassroots environmental network, with member groups in 70 countries. We campaign on today’s most urgent environmental and social issues.

Oil Change International (www.priceofoil.org) campaigns to expose the true costs of oil and facilitate the coming transition towards clean energy. We are dedicated to identifying and overcoming political barriers to that transition.