– Urge investors to stop funding
Lagos — Ahead of the Annual General Meeting of the oil and gas giant, Shell Petroleum, scheduled for tomorrow, a broad-based Civil Society Organizations have called on the church of England and other investors to stop lending moral and financial support to the company and told vote against its energy transition strategy at the AGM.
In a resolution issued today at a peoples Annual General Meeting, a shadow CSOs AGM to Shell’s organized by the African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) in collaboration with several other environmental, human rights organisations and victims of decades of oil extraction in Lagos the groups called on Shell to immediately commence a process of winding down further exploration of fossil fuels in Nigeria.
Led by the Executive Director ANEEJ, Rev David Ugolor, Executive Director of Indigenous Centre for Energy and Sustainable Development, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, National Coordinator, Publish What You Pay Campaign – Nigeria, Taiwo Otitolaye, National Coordinator, Ogoni Solidarity Forum-Nigeria, Mr. Celestine Akpoborie, Leader, Leader, Ogoni Peoples Assembly, the group wants Shell to urgently revise its 2021 energy transition strategy to align with Paris Agreement, of limiting the increase in the average global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
They noted that “the operations of shall, rather than enrich the people of Niger Delta, has become a nightmare for the people as pollution from spills and gas flaring has led to the complete degradation of the environment, destroyed the source of livelihood and inflicted untold pain and hardship on the people.”
They equally hinged their calls on the premise that “Shell’s climate and energy strategy falls short of what is required to achieve Paris Agreement, of limiting the increase in the average global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
“Shell’s emission reduction targets are intensity-based rather than absolute and, despite the need to wind down oil and gas production, the company plans to continue to invest billions of dollars in upstream oil and gas. It targets increase in its gas production significantly, to reach over half of its business by 2030.
“Shell’s excuse that Nigeria is an oil-dependent nation hence the increase in investments in oil and gas beyond global targets to end fossil fuel extraction is unacceptable,” they stated.
The group said as representatives of Nigerian oil-bearing communities and citizens who are the victims of Shell and other International Oil and Gas Companies, they have voted an emphatic “NO” to shell’s Energy Transition Strategy. They called on Shell to cut down carbon emission at source rather than targeting nature-based solutions.
The people’s AGM was attended by the people of Niger Delta region and environmental activists from different parts of Nigeria comprising heads and leaders of NGOs, CBOs, Faith Based Organisations, Representatives of Host Oil and Gas Communities, Human Rights groups, youths, students, artisans, victims and media practitioners.
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