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Update on Shell Lawsuit

I know many of you will be wondering what happened in the Wiwa vs. Shell case I wrote about recently, as they were scheduled for a June 3 pre-trial conference, and that date has now long passed.

Well, Shell kept delaying and there were no reasons given. Now, however, we see what was going on behind the scenes – Shell was deliberating over an out of court settlement of 15.5 million dollars, which the plaintiffs ultimately accepted.

I’m torn over the outcome – jubilant in one respect, and feeling wholly dissatisfied in another. The good news is that Shell is being taken to task over its activities in the Niger Delta, and is having to cough up some cash to compensate. And, it’s great to see the power of democracy through the internet, as months ago Shell dismissed the plaintiffs as if they didn’t expect the case to go to trial or to gather any steam. With many bloggers picking up the scent, and bringing this issue to the greater public, pressure grew and grew until they realised this situation was not going to be easily swept under the mat. It’s great to see a revolution of typing bringing succour to the underdog.

But, although Shell is making this settlement, it is doing so as a ‘humanitarian gesture’ (it took 14 years for their compassion to rise to the surface…), and they are still not officially accepting any responsibility for a very checkered history (that includes loss of life, livelihoods, and massive environment destruction). What’s more – the settlement has no impact on their ongoing gas flaring and oil leaks, etc. (Their gas flaring alone makes them one of the largest CO2 emitters on the planet, and as a whole the company is the most carbon intensive of any other.) Additionally, US$15.5 million dollars is nothing in comparison to the US$26.27 billion profit Royal Dutch Shell made in 2008 alone.

Although I understand some of the reasoning of the plaintiffs behind accepting the offer (for example, if they rejected it and went to trial and won, they still faced years of appeals from Shell) I can’t help but wish that Shell was truly made accountable by having this case dragged through the courts in full public view. It would have set a much-needed precedent – that corporations cannot just trample over indigenous people with impunity, and that no matter where they may operate, justice could ultimately be served on them.

I dearly hope the plaintiffs use a decent chunk of the money in an ethical fashion – to benefit the larger Ogoni community – rather than letting it corrupt them as the oil in Nigeria has obviously done to Shell and so many others. If merely used as compensation for the loss of loved ones, it essentially becomes the ‘value’ of the Ogoni nine that were executed that dark day.

As it happens, in case you’re thinking Shell are innocent of the accusations and are merely being bullied into paying by the persistent and aided efforts of money-hungry scallywags, after the settlement the UK’s Channel 4 delved into the issue by looking over previously unpublished documents – those the plaintiffs would have used in court – that clearly show Shell was more than complicit in its relations with the Nigerian military, even to the point of giving them financial support and supplying transport assistance. Watch to learn more:



Part I



Part II

2 Comments

  1. Hello Craig,
    I’d like to thank you for all your posts: even if they are not commented upon, they are read & taken to heart. I put them all on my Facebook profile (I think to the annoyance of most of our friends, family & acquaintances).
    I am most disturbed by the Monsanto world-domination plan rolling out with dangerous GM, mutilated livestock, patents claiming ownership of life itself & now the destruction of the only safe food farming producers in the US – the organic guys.
    It seems that US legislation, by allowing corporations has made a class of criminals who are policed by no barriers, making them untouchable… Their money corrupts all those who are voted in to protect the interests of common people: whistle-blowers are fired, discredited, threatened. It astonishes me that the US (and other) populations are so naive as to believe that big business ever had the human interest at heart; not to mention so busy that they are oblivious. And so guilty tht they don’t want to hear the truth, as they feel helpless. Thank God for the Internet, as all the major ‘news’ bodies are owned by the corporations, as are our politicians: with the ability to reshape the world without protest.
    Each day, it becomes glaring more apparent that time is running out & wise action must happen on every single human level. It is not enough to dream of living in a different, more ‘ecologial’ way: the urgency is that each of us must change our actions, expectations, world-view radically now. And become politically active (or starve, it seems).
    So, thinking about this debilitating sense of ‘helplessness’ that most people suffer from, my partner & I are further determined in our plan to educate & hopefully inspire those around us with the combining of Permaculture, Earthships & Cal Earth homes. To show that even two non-expert girls can pull it off, so anyone can. That is our medium & long-term plan which we are working toward daily – right now we are in a house in the Netherlands: a typical house with a typical tiny back & front yard & are doing all we can to demonstrate that you CAN & HAVE TO grow as much of your own food & be as sustainable as possible within these parameters or ‘confines’. We are doing it as publically as possible, putting ourselves out there for ridicule & curiosity. (Even our mates/family have scoffed that it is pointless & pissing-in-the-wind). So many people say they’d LIKE to be greener, but can’t ‘realistically’, as they have no land. Or can’t because of local laws (like not keeping chickens in tiny yards, or bees), or that more sustainable methods of gaining proteins, like the eating of guinea-pigs is not socially acceptable… There are more excuses than possible foods in a food-forest!
    To date, we use grey water for our loo, catch rain water for our food growing (in no-dig horse-poo beds), have gone veggie & are saving for PDC’s & sustainable building Internships. We have gone into partnership with Polish builders to train them up as sustainable building experts of the near future too. That way, people have access to survival tools – food & shelter. The Dutch are a nation of future climate refugees: we all are.
    So thanks for the inspiration & urgency: some of us are changing our lives in direct response. To become human climate, post-oil survival resources.
    Chloe

  2. Thanks Chloe. I agree with you on all counts, and good for you for trying to show people the way forward. They may ridicule, but a correct perception of a right way of life is essentially just a matter of dates. It won’t be long before they’ll all be desperately wishing they could fasttrack the learning curve you’re currently on…

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