Rights group says Shell ‘remains responsible’ for Nigeria oil spills regardless of divestment News
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Rights group says Shell ‘remains responsible’ for Nigeria oil spills regardless of divestment

Amnesty International stated on Thursday that the oil company Shell bears responsibility for cleaning up and remedying historic oil pollution in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, despite the company’s divestment of its Nigerian subsidiary.

The organization’s statement follows a letter sent two months ago by seven UN Rapporteurs on Human Rights to Shell and other oil companies, as well as the governments of the companies’ home countries, regarding the businesses’ human rights obligations towards populations suffering from pollution caused by their activities in their homelands.

Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, urged:

We call on Shell and other oil companies to responsibly divest themselves of assets and operations in a way that respects human rights and the environment. Just because Shell recently sold its Nigerian subsidiary, it does not absolve the company of responsibility for its past actions.

The rights group said that the oil spills amounted to a violation of human rights, requiring Shell and other companies to clean up affected areas and compensate local communities for environmental harm.

Amnesty International’s findings on Shell’s activity in Nigeria echoed those of the Rapporteurs, who also found that Shell’s former subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), was the biggest polluter in the Niger Delta. A civil society study revealed that over 17.5 million liters of oil leaked from SPDC pipelines. These spills devastated the health, livelihoods, and environment of local communities in the region. Therefore, they stressed that companies should not use divestment to avoid responsibility for pollution caused by their activities. They also criticized the SPDC divestment process for lacking transparency, which risks perpetuating human rights impacts and hindering efforts to remedy the situation.

In response, Shell published a letter explaining that following the divestment of SPDC, which was contested by Nigerian and international non-governmental organizations, the subsidiary still retains the same responsibilities and remains accountable for commitments related to operations, including clean up and remediation in case of spills. The oil company also highlighted that the divestment operation was conducted following a rigorous process and obtained the approval of the Nigerian government.

Amnesty International’s statement relates to a lawsuit brought by the Niger Delta communities in February against Shell and its former subsidiary SPDC. In June, the UK High Court issued a preliminary judgment, ruling that Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary can be held legally accountable for historic oil spills that have devastated Nigerian communities for decades. The court also found that oil spills may constitute trespass and a failure to clean up could represent an ongoing breach of Shell’s legal obligations, potentially enabling new legal claims for every day the pollution persists. A full trial is scheduled for 2027.

The UN’s 2022 General Assembly resolution recognized the right to a healthy, clean, and sustainable environment. This right includes substantive elements such as the right to clean air, safe water, healthy food, and non-toxic environments to live and work in. It also includes procedural rights such as the right to participate in decision-making, access to justice and effective remedies, and access to information.

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