WEST AFRICAN GAS
PIPELINE: PROMISE OR PAIN?
Friends of the Earth Ghana and other
NGOs in the region have mixed feelings
about the nearly 1,000-kilometre long gas
pipeline that will soon stretch across West
Africa. The pipeline will run from
Nigeria's Escravos oil field, where it will
capture gas flared by Chevron, to Ghana
(see map). It will also provide gas to
Benin and Togo, and may eventually
terminate as far west as the Ivory Coast or
Senegal.
On one hand, the West African Gas
Pipeline will bring welcome relief from
severe and ongoing power shortages in the
area. It will also contribute to the
economic development and integration of
this sub-region, particularly critical
within the present context of economic
globalization which has significantly
increased the marginalization of many
African countries.
However, FoE Ghana has serious
reservations about the pipeline as planned,
given the historic problems with similar
projects in West Africa and specifically in
Nigeria. In particular, the group is
sceptical about sustainability claims by
oil corporations, as these companies have
poor track records when it comes to
protecting community interests.
Chevron will be the largest supplier of
gas via the pipeline, and the company is
seeking to receive credit for the project
under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean
Development Mechanism. By painting the
project as one which could receive credit
for emissions reduction, Chevron obscures
its overall inaction to combat climate
change by moving toward cleaner sources of
power. Instead of progressive action, the
company hopes to be rewarded for addressing
a problem that it created.
FoE Ghana also has serious concerns
about Chevron's environmental and human
rights record, which has been especially
dismal in its Nigerian operations. Local
residents in the approximately 42
communities in Nigeria where Chevron
currently operates have complained that
canals constructed by the company to
facilitate commerce have caused both
salinization of freshwater and serious
erosion, forcing some people to relocate.
In addition, a 1998 Chevron oil spill led
to numerous deaths of pigs and other farm
animals. Chevron's most egregious human
rights violation, however, came in the form
of the alleged 1998 killing of two
community activists who, after repeated and
unsuccessful letter-writing attempts,
occupied a Chevron oil platform to protest
the company's activities. Nigerian
activists are currently preparing a lawsuit
against Chevron for these deaths.
Furthermore, it is not clear how the
benefits of the project will be distributed
in Ghana. The pipeline, while locally
benign from a human health standpoint, will
not provide power to Nigerians in need. In
Ghana, where power outages affect the
population at large, it is also debatable
whether the pipeline will benefit all
Ghanaians or just large industry. Chevron
has publicly referred to the project as one
which will provide a stable source of
energy for industry in Ghana.
Although an environmental impact
assessment will be required for the
project, previous experience in Ghana has
shown that projects do not necessarily
follow the recommendations of the
assessments. Furthermore, Ghana's
Environmental Protection Agency has limited
resources to ensure the enforcement of
environmental regulations. As a result, FoE
is urging the government to ensure that a
full social and environmental impact study
is undertaken during the feasibility stage
so that the associated costs can be
internalized within the final project.
In order to reduce the externalities of
the project to the bare minimum while
ensuring the project's profitability,
cleaner production techniques employing
best available technologies should be
adopted. Governments should further ensure
that environmental and risk management
plans are prepared and strictly adhered to
throughout the pipeline's life. Finally,
the pipeline should avoid fragile
ecosystems such as wetlands of
international importance, national parks
and other areas rich in biodiversity.
As Theo Anderson of FoE Ghana stresses,
"The concerns of the local populations must
be taken into consideration during the
feasibility study and design of the
project. In particular, the project should
demonstrate visible local benefits relevant
to the communities." To this end, Friends
of the Earth has recommended that involved
countries and companies set aside a
percentage of taxes and profits to be
reinvested in affected communities.
FoE Ghana and FoE United States
