Examining environmental policies and laws in nigeria. The impacts of oil spills and gas flaring are far reaching with severe environmental disaster. Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Solid waste management in nigeria bioenergy consult. Essentially, the paper finds that environmental litigations in nigeria are bedeviled by legal technicalities such that victims of environmental pollution and degradation are ultimately denied access. Shell lawsuit re oil pollution in nigeria business. Background the term environmental justice has featured prominently in the environmental debate for the last two decades but only surfaced in legal parlance in the 1990s. This paper explores the idea of environmental justice in southern africa, in the context of the regions history and current challenges. The region has gone through different phases of peaceful and violent struggles as the indigenes of the region aim to achieve environmental justice. Advancing justice, governance and law for environmental sustainability preface in facing ever increasing complexities regarding our planet, people everywhere view environmental rights, environmental law and jurisprudence and environmental governance as becoming increasingly central to resolving problems of environmental justice. Under colonial and apartheid governments, thousands of black south africans were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands to make way for game parks, and billions. In nigeria, environmental master plan of government is a most. Federal environmental protection agency fepa was established to control the nigerian environment, its resources exploitation and management. Environmental education and sustainable development in.
According to the south african environmental justice networking forum environmental justice is about social transformation directed towards meeting basic human needs and enhancing our quality of life economic quality, health care, housing, human rights, environmental protection, and democracy macdonald 2002. Accordingly, the charter has both international and human rights ramifications for environmental justice in nigeria. Addressing environmental justice concerns in developing countries. Solution to these problems require going beyond the strategies and objectives of fepa. These defects are observed in the niger delta region of nigeria, where oil. It examines how the term is used in both selfdescribed environmental justice movements and in theories of environmental and ecological justice. The analysis and recommendations of this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the department of environmental affairs. Not every environmental justice issue in the country is coveredthere is no dedicated discussion of land reform, for examplebut the book does include many of the key environmental justice concerns in the country. From 1990 1995, nigerian soldiers, at shells request and with. In addition to this, the paper enumerates the causes and consequences of environmental challenges in nigeria. Judicial attitude to environmental litigation and access to. In october of 1991, the first national people of color environmental leadership summit developed a document of environmental justice principles, that have helped to describe and define the. Despite a host of policies and regulations, solid waste management in the country is assuming alarming proportions with each. The democracyenvironmental justice challenge in nigerias niger.
The national oil spill detection and response agency claimed that from january 2010 to august 2015, about 294,352 barrels of oil. The capacity of decision makers, policy makers, planners, implementers and researchers should be built to integrate it in engineering development especially in the policy on environment, and that there should be a shift from the government. The study revealed that to effectively protect the. Environmental law includes both the regulation of pollutants as well as natural resource conservation and allocation. The recommendations do not necessarily carry the full support of all the sectors represented. D abstract t he constitution of the federal republic of nigeria includes in its chapter two on fundamental objectives and directives principles of state policy provisions on the protection of the environment. The clean energy bill this seeks to create a legislative framework to promote the rapid expansion of environmental engineering and improve its efficiency in the country. Pdf the study examined environmental justice and sustainable development in nigeria. Solidarity for environmental justice in southern africa. To this end, the study advocates for the collaborative efforts of international organizations, government, non.
Throughout the last decade or so nigeria has supplied around 810% on average of us oil imports and within a decade, as the deepwater fields are exploited and as new reserves are discovered, nigeria could be producing annually far in excess of venezuela or kuwait. Pdf improving access to environmental justice under the african. In this chapter, an overview of the status of waste management. The legal framework regulating nigerias oil industry is one of the major drivers of disputes and the consequent violent conflicts in the oilrich niger delta region. Received 11 th abstract environmental pollution and its consequences on the nigerian society are of great concern and cannot be overlooked. For us to arrive at all these, there is a big need to start behaving in a way that will stop climate change, further environmental pollution and reduce inequalities, as all these threatens to change every progress already made in human and. The basic task of this book is to explore what, exactly, is meant by justice in definitions of environmental and ecological justice. Environmental pollution and sustainable development in nigeria.
Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws. In spite of the research emphasis of environmental justice in the. Judicial attitude to environmental litigation and access. Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Wonah department of political and administrative studies, faculty of social sciences, university of port harcourt. This paper examines judicial attitude to environmental litigation and access to environmental justice in nigeria. Community protests, civil disobedience, picketing, have been. Ejolt environmental justice organizations, liabilities and trade is a european fp7 project that brings together a global consortium of activists and academics who research or use sustainability sciences, particularly aspects of ecological distribution. Environmental justice the concept of environmental justice first evolved among black communities in the united states, and at a very local level. In the niger delta region of nigeria, the costs of environmental pollution and degradation that is borne by the marginalized, oppressed and pauperized people as. Another movement that has contributed to the debate on environmental justice is the antitoxics movement, which. Pdf environmental justice in nigerias oil industry. Access to environmental justice in nigeria friends of the earth.
Environmental education and sustainable development in nigeria. The paper notes that the undemocratic and corrupt nature of the nigerian state have rendered impotent the environmental policy and as a consequence, the achievement of sustainable development seems to be a mirage. Oil, regulatory enforcement and environmental justice in the united states. Chapter waste management department of environmental affairs. Department of environmental affairs, 2014, environmental impact assessment and management strategy for south africa draft. Anjali waikar, staff attorney, nrdc environmental justice program. The phenomenon ej refers to the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and laws. Environmental and social justice movement in nigeria came to the fore when the ogoni people. The challenges of environmental problems in nigeria. Following the introduction, the article proceeds in four major components. Environmental justice really reflects the fundamental reality that vulnerable. Chapter waste management department of environmental.
The study revealed that to effectively protect the environment and sustainably develop resources, enlightened. The issues of global environmental injustice and human rights violations are the central focus of this article. The case for a global environmental court of justice all the more challenging because there is hardly any viable means of conflict resolution. Environmental justice is defined as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies usepa, 2017.
Frameworks to advance environmental justice in developing countries. Oil pollution is a big challenge to the nigerian government. The plaintiff may not have the financial resource to procure the. Environmental justice in nigeria royal dutch shell plc. The niger delta region that hosts nigerias oil industry remains engulfed in violent conflicts of varying degrees for over 50 years. Practice% 20generic%20themetriplewinsforsustainabledevelopmentweb. The capacity of decision makers, policy makers, planners, implementers and researchers should be built to integrate it in engineering development especially in the policy on environment, and that there should be a. In order to succeed in an action for negligence, the burden of proof lies with the plaintiff. To this end, the study advocates for the collaborative efforts of international organizations, government, nongovernmental organizations, environmental. South africa remains at the forefront of environmental protection amongst developing countries and is committed. The 4year project will study and map environmental conflicts all over the world. Despite south africas positive economic trajectory, unemployment remains rife amongst skilled and unskilled. The epa definition of environmental justice is as follows.
Nigeria, with population exceeding 170 million, is one of the largest producers of solid waste in africa. Environmental justice offers a wide ranging analysis of this rapidly evolving field, with compelling examples of the processes involved in producing inequalities and the challenges faced in advancing the interests of the disadvantaged. Addressing environmental justice concerns in developing. The study examined environmental justice and sustainable developmen t in nigeria.
Southern african activists embrace environmental justice concept. Mcdonald he history of environmental policy in south africa is a cruel and perverse one. So environmental justice movement transcends the environmental movement, being historically bonded to environmental issues, but situated within the history of movements for social justice cole e foster 2001. Specific focus is placed on the waste management hierarchy within the context of south africas 2012 nwms, and the nem. Dec, 2017 the following is a transcript of the video. Pdf environmental justice and sustainable development in. Pdf environmental justice and sustainable development in nigeria. It touches on energy, agriculture, real estate, and land use, and has expanded to include international environmental governance, international trade, environmental justice, sustainable growth.
The case for a global environmental court of justice able to afford these costs and services to defend themselves and minimise damage. The central argument is that a theory and practice of environmental justice necessarily includes distributive. The paper employs expository analysis as its methodology in discussing the theme. Nigeria had, of course, become an archetypal oil nation. At this point, most americans have heard of the avoidable and abject failure of government on the local, state and federal level. While acknowledging the varying sociopolitical and economic contexts of these conflicts, this chapter posits that.
The nigerian constriction, for one, makes provision for environmental protection and management in sections 12, 20, 33 and 34. Section 33 and 34 guarantee right to land and human dignity and it is said to associate with the necessity for safe and healthy environment. Undps new strategic plan 20142017 lays out a vision for assisting developing countries with reform of legal and regulatory frameworks so that the poor, indigenous groups and local communities have secure access to natural resources including land, water and forests, and that the benefits arising from the sustainable use. Mining in nigeria, uganda and ghana peter eddie aldinger abstract in recent years multinational enterprises mnes have shown a renewed interest in the mineral resources of subsaharan africa, providing governments. But field observation revealed that environmental degradation is growing at a rate worse than the pre fepa period. Environmental justice, uprising, ogoni bill of right, niger delta. Environmental justice an overview sciencedirect topics. Solid waste management is the most pressing environmental challenge faced by urban and rural areas of nigeria. The paper examines the impact of the nature and character of the nigerian state and its environmental policy on the achievement of sustainable development in nigeria. Framework program for environmental protection states environmental protection agencies 1. Essentially, the paper finds that environmental litigations in nigeria are bedeviled by legal technicalities such that victims of environmental pollution and degradation are ultimately denied access to justice. Critical notes on environmental justice and sustainable.
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