Divestment or Phase Out: Activists Respond to Oil Selloffs in Africa

Afrika Nå

The Niger Delta in Nigeria has endured extensive environmental degradation due to decades of oil exploration activities. One of the major companies to have operated in the region is Shell. Communities in the Niger Delta have faced pollution, loss of livelihoods and health crises and Shell's operation in the country have been mired in some of the most serious human rights violations and ecological pollution. Their plan now is to divest from onshore operations, seemingly an attempt to absolve them of their responsibility for decades of environmental degradation and community disenfranchisement. Shell is not operating in a vacuum. Many of the big oil companies (including Equinor) are divesting from high emission areas. What responsibilities do oil companies have for the damages they have caused in the local communities? What are the dilemmas regarding divestment strategies and how can civil society and environmental organizations tackle this? And how can we ensure empowerment of indigenous capital in fossil extraction?