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8 - An Emerging Human Right to Security from Climate Change: The Case Against Gas Flaring in Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 August 2009

By
Amy Sinden
Edited by
William C. G. Burns  and
Hari M. Osofsky
William C. G. Burns
Affiliation:
Santa Clara University, School of Law
Hari M. Osofsky
Affiliation:
Washington and Lee University, Virginia
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Summary

INTRODUCTION

Is there a human right to security from climate change? A recent ruling by the Federal High Court of Nigeria suggests that there is. Royal Dutch/Shell Group (Shell) and the other companies that produce oil in Nigeria have engaged for decades in a practice called “gas flaring,” in which natural gas released during oil extraction is burned off, discharging large clouds of greenhouse gases and other pollutants into the atmosphere. Citing the climatic and other environmental impacts of gas flaring on their community, Nigerians living near the flares filed a lawsuit charging that the practice violates their fundamental rights to life and dignity guaranteed under the Nigerian constitution. In a ruling on November 14, 2005, the Federal High Court of Nigeria agreed and ordered Shell and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation “to take immediate steps to stop the further flaring of gas” in the plaintiffs' community. Although the court's ruling thus far has had little practical effect – the oil companies have yet to comply and are appealing the order – it opens up intriguing possibilities for crafting legal approaches to the problem of climate change.

Little analysis of the plaintiffs' climate change claim accompanied the Nigerian court's ruling, but the notion that actions that contribute substantially to climate change may violate fundamental constitutional or human rights is intuitively appealing.

Type
Chapter
Information
Adjudicating Climate Change
State, National, and International Approaches
 , pp. 173 - 192
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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