stop gas flaring in nigeria

Call on Shell's new CEO to comply with Nigerian law and stop gas flaring in the Niger Delta.

This action is now closed!

Children in the Niger Delta look on at a Shell gas flare. © Elaine Gilligan / Friends of the Earth

In January 2009 we launched a cyberaction against the government of Nigeria urging them to put a stop to the illegal and harmful practice of “gas flaring”. Gas flares are open-air fires that burn the natural gas that is released when oil is extracted from the ground. The practice endangers human health, harms local ecosystems, emits large amounts of greenhouse gases, wastes vast quantities of natural gas, and is against Nigerian law.

Nevertheless, major oil producers have been allowed to continue this practice for decades.

10,000 of you petitioned the Nigerian government to invoke the law criminalising gas flaring. This campaign is far from over and we now need your help once more.

shell on trial

shellguilty logo After legal battles lasting nearly fourteen years, oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has been forced to pay a $15.5 million out-of-court settlement. Plaintiffs from the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta have successfully held Shell accountable for complicity in human rights atrocities committed against the Ogoni people in the 1990s, including the execution of writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.

This settlement though will not put an end to the daily struggles people throughout the Niger Delta face as a result of Shell's activities in the region. Despite this victory, justice will not be served in Ogoni and throughout the Delta until the gas flares are put out, the spills cleaned up, and the military stops protecting the oil companies and starts serving the people.

Keep the pressure on Shell and sign our petition to urge the Shell CEO to make the right choice and end gas flaring in Nigeria once and for all.

Update: Shell have been responding to some of you who have taken this action. Read our response to their claims here.

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Stop gas flaring in Nigeria

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Dear Mr Voser,

You are no doubt aware of the devastating impact gas flaring has on the health of Nigerian people and their land—as well as the harmful impact it is having on our climate.

Flaring in the Delta region causes respiratory illnesses, blindness, cancer and birth defects amongst local people. The toxic compounds in the gas have entered streams and fields, endangering the fishing and farming people rely on for their subsistence and livelihood. But the impact does not end in Nigeria. Gas flaring has caused more greenhouse gas emissions than all other sources in sub-Saharan Africa combined, thereby worsening climate change, which has damaging consequences for us all.

This atrocious practice must end. Shell has promised to stop gas flaring countless times. These broken promises aggravate the communities that continue to suffer the effects of 24-hour flaring and show a flagrant disregard for  our climate that belies your professed concern.

The Wiwa v. Shell trial beginning in May has once again put a spotlight on your business in Nigeria. People across the planet will remember how Ken Saro-Wiwa and members of the movement he led fought to end gas flaring. This message is a sign of my commitment to continue their struggle.

As the new CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, I believe you have a choice of what kind of future Shell will have; one of broken promises or one of honorable leadership on this issue in doing the right thing by ending gas flaring.

I urge you to take this opportunity to end the injustice of Shell's gas flaring in Nigeria once and for all.

Yours sincerely,

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