Home News ETP 2060: FG to addressed environmental injustices, provides alternative livelihoods to oil-rich communities
News - December 21, 2022

ETP 2060: FG to addressed environmental injustices, provides alternative livelihoods to oil-rich communities

Stanley Ihedigbo (oluwastanley2@yahoo.com)

Victoria Ibezim Ohaeri

Three groups of civil societies have advised Federal Government to address the environmental injustice on oil –rich communities and provides alternative livelihood for them, in order to achieve its Energy Transition Plan (ETP) in 2060.

The group, Spaces For Change (S4C), Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC) and Extractive 360 (E360), said that Nigeria plan in phasing out fuels as part of its commitments to achieve net zero by 2060 was silent on communities who have borne the brunt of fossil fuel extraction for several decades and whose livelihoods are dependent on crude oil and local refining.

ETP was developed as a pathway targeted to adopt natural gas as a transition fuel to aid the process of phasing out carbon –polluting fuels like crude oil and put an end to Nigeria’s historical dependence on crude oil.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony of a researched report by the group, “Energy transition in Nigeria’s oil-rich communities “, supported by Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP),   Executive Director of Spaces For Change (S4C) Ms. Victoria Ibezim –Obaeri, said that decades of  neglect, widespread environmental damage and monumental poverty should be addressed  and government provides alternative  livelihood for the oil-rich communities.

She noted that Africa has been a minor contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, with the continent accounting for less than three percent of the world’s energy –related carbon emissions, and countries like Nigeria are witnessing radical changes in climatic conditions such as intense rainfalls, heavy flooding, depreciating coastal lines due to rising sea levels, drought as well as desertification.

“These incidents highlight the country’s increasing vulnerability to climate change mainly caused by high carbon-emitting activities in the extractive and transportation sectors. With the goal of lifting 100 million people out of poverty by bringing modern energy services to the full population , Nigeria’s ETP proposes to reduce emission levels by increasing dependence on natural gas and focusing on low carbon technologies that will scale up emission reduction across sectors, create five million new solar connections and up to 840,000 new jobs.

“How will oil-rich communities in Nigeria benefit from these ambitious plans? Are oil-rich communities in Nigeria even aware of the ETP?  With the adoption of gas as a transition fuel, including the long-term energy security proposals that are heavily anchored on the use of the natural gas, how much have gas –rich communities contributed to the development of national transition plans? What are the guarantees that these plans will work for them? Should energy transition succeed, what alternatives are placed before communities? What are the opportunities and mechanism for including local communities (which oil and gas have been explained for decades) in this new conversation so that they can also benefit from the new given economy?” she said.

Ibezim –Obaeri, explained that the National transition plans and policies neither made arrangements for cleanup , remediation , compensation , and rehabilitation of oil-rich communities nor for addressing the massive environmental damage that has accompanied the country’s protracted dependence on fossil fuels.

“Decades of neglect and poverty have now contributed to popularizing the environmentally -damaging but money –spinning artisanal refining trade. This burgeoning venture is envisaged to become moribund in the new green economy, but the ETP did not make provisions for the development of alternative livelihoods for local populations involved in this trade which is potentially a recipe for renewed violence.

“Corporations have announced their commitment to energy transition by unveiling their respective transition agendas. Some even changed names as to align with the new trend. However, energy transition proposals by corporations make veiled references to communities, but a deep scanning reveals shallow commitments that require little, if any, deviation from current corporate behaviour and practices that entrench power and knowledge asymmetry. They also reveal no effectual and concrete commitment to environmental accountability. Community support for energy transition is conditioned on the presentation of a clear roadmap for righting the wrongs that fossil fuels have done to extractive communities. From the community perspective, a just transition also means recognizing the gender –differentiated impacts of hydrocarbon and the availability of adequate remedies for these impacts.

“Oil –rich communities want to play an active role in the green economy, and not relegated to mere spectators and recipients of handouts packaged as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Communities want inclusion, participation, enforceable contracts, alternative livelihoods, and environmental justice.  To prevent a repeat of the mistakes of the fossil fuel economy, Nigeria needs to dismantle the governmental grip on natural resources, with the attendant centralized systems for resource governance. Leapfrogging into prosperity in the green economy requires a phased wind-down of economic dependence on the center, giving states the autonomy to manage their own natural and renewable resources”, she further explained.

On the report, Executive Director of Spaces For Change said that they recommendation was to prioritize the involvement of communities in the green economy , because there is need to create spaces for healthy engagement and dialogues regarding energy transition to resolve concerns around inclusion , participation , decision-making , gendered impacts of business harms, and environmental accountability.

She added also, that steps must be taken for the involvement of women as key stakeholders in energy efficiency and environmental sustainability initiatives are imperative.

In his remarks, Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources, Rivers State, Dr. Peter Medee, said that community inclusion and participation must be taken seriously for the smooth operations of ETP project.

According to him, the country dependence on oil must end so as to become a producing nation.

He lamented that one of the things that kill such a good agenda is corruption and advised that mechanism to check it should be strengthen.

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