Today, Young Friends of the Earth Europe is supporting the launch of an international campaign calling on oil company Shell to clean up its mess in the oil-rich and heavily polluted Niger Delta in Nigeria. The launch of an international petition targeting Shell comes exactly two years after a United Nations report exposed oil-giant Shell’s systematic contamination of Ogoniland in Nigeria.
At Young Friends of the Earth Europe’s annual summer camp in Lofoten, Norway, last week, five young activists from Environmental Rights Action in Nigeria joined to share their first hand experiences of the oil industry, in particular Shell, and the daily reality of living in the shadow of oil spills and gas flares.
Ogoniland is one of the worst-hit regions in the Niger Delta – oil pollution has devastated the environment and the livelihoods of farmers and fishermen. In the report, the United Nations (UNEP) accused Shell of failing to properly clean up oil leaked from pipelines and other facilities, and of failing to comply with its own internal procedures in the contaminated sites in Ogoniland. Shell endorsed the UNEP report, but has yet to act on its recommendations.
We support those people and communities effected by Shell’s pollution in Ongoniland and the rest of the world, and you can too, by adding your name to the petition to Shell CEO Peter Voser, and encouraging others to do the same too.
Sign the petition today