CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY

Shell & Vedanta

Youth Group Action : April 2010

Amnesty International

SHELL CAMPAIGN UPDATE

Thanks to your efforts weve been keeping Shells human rights record under the spotlight up and down the UK.
Amnesty Youth Groups have sent more than 1,500 postcards, letters, placards and banners to Peter Voser, the chief executive of Shell, protesting about the companys behaviour.

And your actions are really having an impact!

OVERVIEW: SHELL IN THE NIGER DELTA

The Niger Delta has massive and very valuable oil deposits, but the majority of Its 31 million inhabitants live in poverty. Shell is responsible for 80% of oil and gas extraction in the area. Its damaging practices are stripping the inhabitants of their human rights and keeping them in poverty. Rather than protect its people, the Nigerian Government has abandoned them to the oil companies.

FACTFILE ON THE NIGER DELTA

Location: Nigeria, West Africa Population: 31 million Area: Approx 70,000 km2 Ethnic groups: over 40, including the Efik Eburutu, Ibibio Nation, Annang Nation, Oron Nation, & Ogoni people Languages: 250 dialects are spoken

THE IMPACT OF SHELLS OPERATIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Oil spills, gas flaring* and pollution are all having a devastating impact on the land and rivers these communities depend upon.
Local people are left to drink polluted water, eat contaminated fish, farm on spoiled land, and breathe air that stinks of oil and gas. In August 2008, a Shell pipeline leaked more than 1,600 barrels of oil into local waterways at Bodo Creek. Sadly this is just one of a series of shocking pollution incidents which Shell and the Nigerian Government have not responded to adequately.

THE IMPACT OF SHELLS OPERATIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

* What is gas flaring? When oil is pumped out of the ground, the gas produced is separated and, in Nigeria, most of it is burnt as waste. This is extremely wasteful and environmentally damaging, and there are concerns that it has a negative impact on human health. It has been illegal in Nigeria since 1984, but Shell continue to do it.

THE IMPACT OF SHELLS OPERATIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

We want the Federal Ministry of Environment and Shell Petroleum Development Company in particular to come and put a stop to this My people dont go to fishing any longer you can see the devastating effects and this is our main source of livelihood. Representative of the Bodo community, after oil spill at Bodo, Ogoniland, 2008

THE IMPACT OF SHELLS OPERATIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Decades of pollution in the Niger Delta has led to serious human rights violations, driving the people of the region into poverty.

WHICH HUMAN RIGHTS IS SHELL ABUSING?

Right to earn a living through work

Right to an adequate standard of living

Right to health + a healthy environment

Right to food
Right to clean water

THE IMPACT OF SHELLS OPERATIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Hundreds of thousands of people are affected, particularly the poorest and those that rely on traditional livelihoods such as fishing and agriculture.

A local fisherman described the devastation caused by oil spills:

If you want to go fishing, you have to paddle for about four hours through several rivers before you can get to where you can catch fish some of the fishes we catch, when you open the stomach, it smells of crude oil.

A fisherman with his canoe in Goi, Ogoniland.

VIOLENCE IN THE NIGER DELTA

Poverty and pollution have sparked protests against Shell and other oil companies, and some of these protests have been violent.
Armed gangs have formed, and have been involved in sabotage, theft, property destruction, and kidnapping oil workers. Amnesty condemns this violence. The recent increase in confrontations between armed groups and government security forces has negatively impacted on the people of the Niger Delta. In June 2009, tens of thousands of people fled their homes to avoid fighting between government forces and group known as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.

SHELLS RESPONSE TO AMNESTYS CAMPAIGN

Your actions are clearly having an impact, as Shells PR machine has been going into overdrive. Many Amnesty groups have received letters from Shell in response to their appeals to CEO Peter Voser.
Shells response has been disappointing but not surprising. They focus on the complexity of the situation in the Niger Delta without acknowledging their own role in human rights violations. Below you will find detailed responses to some of the claims which Shell has been making in these letters.

SHELLS RESPONSE TO AMNESTYS CAMPAIGN

Shell claim that the situation in the Niger Delta is complex and that Amnesty has not adequately reflected this, ignoring the realities and root causes Not true - Amnestys report (Petroleum, pollution and poverty in the Niger Delta) focuses on some of the root causes of conflict and poverty in the region. These include: the impact of half a century of pollution and environmental damage; the lack of access to justice for the people of the Niger Delta, who face extreme difficulties in bringing legal proceedings against multinational corporations like Shell; and a lack of transparency in relation to the impacts of the oil industry. Communities are rarely given information about the impact of Shells operations on their environment and human rights.

SHELLS RESPONSE TO AMNESTYS CAMPAIGN

Shell claim that 85% of the oil spillage in the Niger Delta is caused by attacks and sabotage
It is difficult to put an accurate figure on the proportion of oil spills caused by sabotage, as opposed to corrosion and equipment failure. There is often no independent investigation into the cause of a spill, and given that Shell has to pay compensation if a spill is caused by corrosion or equipment failure, their own figures may not be reliable. This is illustrated by the case of a major oil spill at Batan in Delta State in 2002. Shell wrote to the Governor of Delta State claiming the spill was caused by sabotage. The letter was written two days before the investigation was done. An independent investigation showed the cause of the spill to be equipment failure. By their own admission, most of the oil spilt by Shell between 1989 and 1994 was due to corrosion or operational problems and only 28% was attributed to sabotage. In 2007 Shells estimates had risen to 70% and in response to Amnestys report, Shell estimates 85%. While Amnesty acknowledges that sabotage and vandalism are serious problems, we are not aware of any credible evidence to support this data.

SHELLS RESPONSE TO AMNESTYS CAMPAIGN

Shell claims it does disclose its social and environmental impact assessments

Shell asserts that Environmental and Social Impact Assessments have been and are being made public, but the company did not provide any Environmental Impact Assessments to Amnesty International, despite repeated requests made whilst researching our report.
Although assessments are meant to be available in government offices, when Amnesty tried to obtain copies from one local government office, staff were afraid to provide them but did not say why. We believe assessments should also be made available to the affected communities not just sitting in local offices.

SHELLS RESPONSE TO AMNESTYS CAMPAIGN

Shell does not believe Amnesty has adequately acknowledged the companys contribution to Nigerias economy and community development in the Niger Delta. Amnestys report acknowledges that Shell has made some positive contributions in Nigeria. However, human rights abuses cannot be offset. The funds spent by Shell on education, as well as infrastructure, do not reverse the damage done to communities as a result of Shells core business activities in the Delta.

TAKE ACTION 1: SHELL CLEAN UP YOUR ACT STUNT

We would like as many groups as possible to organise stunts in their schools to raise awareness of Shells actions in the Niger Delta. The action should be visual aim to attract attention and spark questions from other students.

Shell demo at Amnestys Student Conference

We have white decontamination suits available for you to borrow just call the activism team. Weve sent you some action cards about gas flaring in this mailing. Try to get lots of people to sign cards during your stunt. You can order more cards from our mailing house if you need them.

TAKE ACTION 2: SHOW THE FILM

See how 200 students from Amnesty groups across the UK marched a 40-metre-long gas pipeline through the streets of London to protest about Shells harmful practice of gas flaring in the Niger Delta. The film is available online at www.amnesty.org.uk/youth

RESOURCES
You can read the full report Petroleum, pollution and poverty in the Niger Delta at www.amnesty.org.uk/dignity Watch the video: Shells damaging practices in the Niger Delta are revealed. http://www.protectthehuman.com/videos/welcome-toshell Watch the video: Exeter University Amnesty group head to their local Shell station to give it a jolly good clean up! http://www.protectthehuman.com/videos/the-bigshell-cleanup

MINING COMPANY IN THE SPOTLIGHT OVER HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

On 9 February an Amnesty delegation Presented Vedanta Resources with a report showing how pollution from their alumina refinery in Lanjigarh, Orissa, India threatens the health of local people and their access to water. The report also shows that Vedantas plans to open a bauxite mine in the nearby Niyamgiri Hills could threaten the way of life of the indigenous Dongria Kondh community, who depend on the hills for their water, food, livelihoods and cultural identity.

The Dongria Kondh do not cut trees or cultivate the top of the hill as they believe that their deity (god) Niyam Raja Penu lives there. Now they face the prospect of a 700-hectare open-cast mine in their holiest place.

MINING COMPANY IN THE SPOTLIGHT OVER HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

Just days before the Amnesty report was published, the Church of England announced that it was withdrawing its investments from Vedanta because of its concerns over the companys human rights record. The Rowntree Trust, Marlborough Ethical Fund and Millfield House Foundation sold their shares, worth 2.2 million, soon afterwards. Amnesty International is calling on Vedanta to address the human rights and environmental impacts of their alumina refinery, and not to expand the refinery or begin mining until the current problems are resolved. Amnesty is also calling on the Indian authorities to set up a process to seek the consent of the Dongria Kondh before allowing Vedanta to start mining. For more information: www.protectthehuman.com/vedanta

TAKE ACTION 3: SIGN THE PETITION

We have launched a petition to hand over at Vedantas AGM in July this year. Please send all signed petitions back to us by 20th June at the latest. You can also sign the petition online at www.protectthehuman.com/vedanta