“Environmental Sustainability and Community Rights to Natural Resources”

“Environmental Sustainability and Community Rights to Natural Resources” Being A Panel Presentation by: LEDUM MITEE Chair NSWG-NEITI – NigeriaAt The Ford Foundation Meeting, At Movenpick Hotel, AccraOn Monday August 26th 2013

INTRODUCTION • In the primacy of rights, the right to a safe environment would rank highest; > it is man’s first right > other rights depend on it > its violation is omnicidal • The African concept is more encompassing; > they go beyond flora and fauna as they have spiritual connotation > land, forests, vegetation and rivers are not mere factors of production > they are the abode of the gods

INTRODUCTION (CONT’D) • It is difficult if not impossible to separate the well-being of the human person from the well-being of the environment • The centrality of the environment to the very basis of existence underscores the very essence of natural resources to include the resources endowed in and on land by nature

ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS AND NATURAL RESOURCES • Arising from the above, the African Charter not only gives peoples the right to their wealth and natural resources but provides that under no circumstances should they be deprived of it • Although our communities rely mostly on natural resources for their livelihoods, they have great regard for their sustainability and would therefore resist any attempt to deprive them of their right to the sacred trust

ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS AND NATURAL RESOURCES (CONT’D) • Almost as a rule, areas where natural resources abound have certain characteristics: > very difficult terrains > government presence and governance in these areas are rudimentary > they are subjected to years of utter neglect • Over time, the enhanced worth of the resources in these communities attract government and transnational corporations in a gold rush mentality to exploit the resources

ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS AND NATURAL RESOURCES (CONT’D) • Exploitation of these resources pollutes the environment by withdrawing resources and dumping pollutants in quantities beyond the capacity of ecosystems • When these occur they wreck havoc on the livelihoods of the people, entire streams are polluted, fishes die, farmlands are polluted, at times they are accompanied with fire which burns and cakes the land • This propels and reinforces the resource curse • The destruction of livelihoods, social dislocations and assault on deep rooted traditions have created a burning sense of injustice on which the various forms of agitations potentially feed

ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS AND NATURAL RESOURCES (CONT’D) • The above scenario leads to societal dislocations: > communities resort to alternative sources of survival > State finances are affected by increasing military spending in the name of security. > companies become attracted by the risk premiums they charge for doing business in the conflict areas • These have direct relationship with poverty exacerbation and loss of livelihoods as they further devastate the environment and also breed serious conflicts

ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS AND NATURAL RESOURCES (CONT’D) • National development that hinges on extraction of these resources invariably overshadows environmental sustainability and so, • Scant attention is being paid to environmental concerns except and to the extent that they are accompanied by violations of civil rights. For instance, > environmental consequences of diamond, oil, gold and other valuable extractives are hardly highlighted in the conflict torn parts of Central and West Africa > it took the execution of Ken SaroWiwa and my other colleagues to draw world attention to the environmental hazards in Ogoni, nay the entire Niger Delta region of Nigeria, and regrettably so

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND THE RESOURCE CURSE • Government and companies must stop treating communities as strangers to their environment and endowed resources and immediately begin to make them have key stakes in the exploitation of resources on their land • On the international front, we believe that the time has come to consider international instruments with the capacity to make binding rulings on environmental matters

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND THE RESOURCE CURSE (cont’d) • The strides that have been recorded in the redress of human rights came about when the international community recognised certain abuses to be crimes against humanity • In the same vein, we propose that pervasive and extensive violations of environmental rights should be accorded the status of crimes against nature and punished as crimes against humanity.

END THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

“Environmental Sustainability and Community Rights to Natural Resources”