The governor of Nigeria’s Bayelsa state has renewed calls for oil companies like Shell and Eni to pay $12 billion to clean up the pollution from their operations in the state over the past 50 years. The call comes more than a year after a Bayelsa state-appointed commission released its report in May 2023 detailing the extensive damage oil companies have caused to the environment and local communities in the state in the Niger Delta. The commission recommended developing a comprehensive cleanup plan and estimated that remediation efforts could cost $12 billion and up to 12 years, proposing a fund financed by the oil companies. Additionally, the commission recommended changes to Nigeria’s regulatory schemes, strengthening scrutiny of oil company practices, and overhauling how they engage with host communities. At a press conference in Abuja on Oct. 30, Bayelsa Governor Douye Diri urged governors from other Nigerian oil-producing states to join Bayelsa in the “battle for environmental justice.” He also demanded the national government “grants Bayelsa greater access to ecological funds.” Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou, chair of the commission’s expert working group, told Mongabay that presenting the findings in the country’s capital was significant because “cleaning up Bayelsa and restoring the environment in a way that people can actually live and breathe and even hope to thrive is the responsibility of the Nigerian government.” Nwajiaku-Dahou added the Nigerian government is responsible for holding the oil companies accountable, as are the home governments of the companies. At another meeting days earlier, Diri committed to…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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