newcastle tuodolo

CLIMATE CHANGE: 

CLIMATE CHANGE THE STRUGGLES OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES BY FELIX TUODOLO DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL

Slide3: 

Focus: The Niger Delta area of Nigeria

Slide4: 

Africa with an insertion of Nigeria showing the Niger Delta area (Udonwa et al. 2004)

THE NIGER DELTA: 

THE NIGER DELTA Occupies the southern part of Nigeria covering an area of between 40,000 - 70,000km2 One of the richest wetlands in the world In the Niger Delta there are at least 600 oil fields, over 5,000 oil wells, 10 export terminals, 275 flow stations, 10 gas plants, 3 refineries and over seven thousand kilometres of pipelines (NNPC 2007) Oil from the Niger Delta makes Nigeria the largest oil producer in Africa Oil accounts for about 14% of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), about 95% of its exports and about 80% of government’s annual revenue (CBN 2006)

Climate Change and the Niger Delta area : 

Climate Change and the Niger Delta area

Ogba / Egbema: gas flaring in a TotalFinaElf oil field: 

Ogba / Egbema: gas flaring in a TotalFinaElf oil field

Why communities?: 

Why communities?

Sangana: Youths ready to battle ChevronTexaco: 

Sangana: Youths ready to battle ChevronTexaco

The politics of gas flaring: 

The politics of gas flaring

Why communities protest: 

Why communities protest

Kula: Gas flare from Shell’s Ekulama 2 flow station: 

Kula: Gas flare from Shell’s Ekulama 2 flow station

Itsekiri: Gas flare can be useful! No nights, drying of foodstuffs: 

Itsekiri: Gas flare can be useful! No nights, drying of foodstuffs

Nembe: Shell pipeline fire December 21, 2005: 

Nembe: Shell pipeline fire December 21, 2005

Bomadi: Effects of oil spillage from Shell pipeline 7 weeks after: 

Bomadi: Effects of oil spillage from Shell pipeline 7 weeks after

Foutorogbene: A palm tree farm destroyed by oil spill from Shell’s flow station: 

Foutorogbene: A palm tree farm destroyed by oil spill from Shell’s flow station

Slide18: 

“But SHELL is killing the community instead of developing us despite all the benefits they are making from our community. You cannot compare the benefits they make with what they are doing in our community – it is slave trade of the highest order. All of us in this community are fishermen, we survive by fishing but there is always spillage from the SHELL wells and the oil spillage have destroyed our marine life and our occupation. Our farmlands have been destroyed and no more fish in our rivers. Our people now travel to the high seas to fish, which is very dangerous” (Nembe Indigene 2006)

Gas flaring in the Niger Delta as seen from space: 

Gas flaring in the Niger Delta as seen from space

Niger Delta peoples’ position on climate change : 

Niger Delta peoples’ position on climate change

OPERATION CLIMATE CHANGE: 

OPERATION CLIMATE CHANGE

Slide25: 

weapons Tools

Peaceful demonstration by Ijaw youths: 

Peaceful demonstration by Ijaw youths

Foutorugbene: Seized Shell oil barge: 

Foutorugbene: Seized Shell oil barge

Escravos: Women demonstrators on a Chevron tank farm in 2002. Oil production was stopped for several days (BBC 2002): 

Escravos: Women demonstrators on a Chevron tank farm in 2002. Oil production was stopped for several days (BBC 2002)

Spiritual warfare: 

Spiritual warfare

The chieftaincy were involved too: 

The chieftaincy were involved too

Litigations : 

Litigations

Slide32: 

“This victory marks a new dawn in the struggle of the communities of the Niger Delta to have these flares of hell switched off. For the first time there is hope that children here can hope to have a dark, quiet night, enjoy the chirps of birds and rest their ear drums from the awful noise of these gas flares” - Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director, Friends of the Earth Nigeria, commenting at the outcome of a court decision in 2005 against oil companies to stop gas flaring.

Impacts : 

Impacts Oil production stopped several times every month of the year Some news headlines Militants close Nigeria oil plant Youths besiege firms, hold workers hostage ChevronTexaco halts plan to resume 140,000 barrels of oil production per day Protesting community women hijack Shell facility Shell plans to invest $3 billion over six years in 11 different flaring reduction projects that will collect 85% of associated gas it produces ExxonMobil has invested $3 billion in Nigeria to reduce routine gas flaring ChevronTexaco and ENI are involved in re-injection and conversion of gas-to-liquid projects The Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant and Bonny and a new one planned for Brass

Conclusion : 

Conclusion