This is a past event
AUCEL Energy Seminars 2023/2024 welcomes Prof Engobo Emeseh
Local Communities, Environmental Justice and Just Transition: Reflections from The Bayelsa Sate Oil Commission Report
The Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission Report, ‘An Environmental Genocide: The Human and Environmental Cost of Big Oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria, published in May 2023, provides one of the most robust evidence based critical accounts of the environmental, human and economic impacts of oil pollution in Bayelsa, one of the states in the oil producing Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The report draws upon evidence from testimonies from communities, oil spills data, and forensic analysis, underpinned by the extensive literature on oil pollution in the Niger Delta to paint a picture of the true cost of the activities of the oil industry in the state. The evidence garnered by the Commission is stark, showcasing a frequent, consistent, pervasive and sustained devastation of the environment that imperils the livelihoods and very lives of Bayelsans on such a grand scale that led the Commission inexorably to the conclusion of ‘an environmental genocide’.
Against this backdrop, this seminar explores the findings and recommendations of the commission through the prism of the ‘four failures’ developed by the commission as it’s framework of analysis. At the crux of this is a complex interplay of systemic, institutional, regulatory and governance deficits at both national and international levels. Importantly, these deficits do not exist in a vacuum but reflect the values and principles underlying the laws and policies in our multi-layered pluralistic governance framework. In this context, the principle of just transition, how it is framed, understood and implemented is pivotal to any discussion of environmental justice for oil producing communities in a post-oil future.
Professor Engobo Emeseh is the Head of Law School at the University of Bradford. She has extensive experience in higher education both within and outside the UK. Professor Emeseh has led the development of innovative market relevant degree schemes, portfolio reviews, and diversification of delivery formats to cater to a wide audience, maximise resources, and improve the student learning experience, including external engagement and skills development.Engobo obtained her PhD from the Centre for Energy Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy, University of Dundee. She graduated with a first class from the Nigeria Law School and Distinction from the University of Wales Cardiff. She is a former British Council Chevening Scholar, and a Ford Foundation (IFP) doctoral fellow. Prior to her academic career, she practiced as a barrister and solicitor in Nigeria, having been called to the Nigerian Bar.
- Speaker
- Professor Engobo Emeseh
- Hosted by
- Aberdeen University Centre for Energy Law
- Venue
- Taylor C11
- Contact
-
Daria Shapovalova, dshapovalova@abdn.ac.uk
