WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The UNEP study also called for Shell’s clean-up methods to be urgently overhauled, including reviewing its methodology and addressing serious delays in responding to spills.
“It is scandalous that Shell — which now wants the world to trust it to drill in the Arctic – has failed to properly implement the UN’s expert advice on oil spill response after so long,” Amnesty International (AI) said in the statement issued on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari announced the creation of a trust fund to pay for the clean-up of the Ogoniland region in the Niger Delta.
However, an AI official expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of the new policy.
“President Buhari’s initiative will fail, and the Ogoni people will continue to suffer, as long as Shell fails to make significant changes to the way it approaches oil spill clean-up.” AI Researcher on Business and Human Rights Mark Dummett said in the statement.
AI noted that the establishment of the trust fund was a key recommendation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which published a study on oil pollution in Ogoniland four years ago.
The $10 million for the fund announced by Buhari is far below the $1 billion that the UNEP said should be devoted to cover the first five years of a clean-up job which could take up to 30 years, AI noted.
“Ogoniland has been devastated by years of oil spills and Shell’s clean-up operations have been utterly ineffective,” Dummett said in the statement.
