ERA Annual Report 2010 - Environmental Rights Action

2010annualreporteatWe must Chooseeatwhat weENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIA

Protectingthe Environment,DemocratisingDevelopment

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAadvisory boardNnimmo BasseyOronto DouglasGodwin Uyi OjoNicholas Ashton-JonesUche OnyeaguchaIke OkontaFolake OkediranMarie BystromM.T Fubara-OkoroduduAkinbode Oluwafemi1

we must choose what we eattable of contentsAdvisory BoardTable of ContentsWho we areAcknowledgmentExecutive Director’s CommentFinally, a Movement Against HungerSpills: Gulf of Mexico versus Niger DeltaTobacco-Free Africa Receives Major BoostGender Beyond BordersOilwatch: Cancun Hosts Carbon TradersNew Skills for Staff, Volunteers, JournalistsOrganisational MilestonesFinancial Statement123456789101112132

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAwho we arenvironmental Rights Action (ERA)is a Nigerian advocacy nongovernmentalorganization Efounded on 11 January 1993 to deal withenvironmental human rights issues. ERA isthe Nigerian chapter of Friends of the EarthI n t e r n a t i o n a l ( F o E I ) , t h e w o r l denvironmental justice federationcampaigning to protect the environmentand to create sustainable societies.ERA/FoEN currently hosts the InternationalSecretariat of Oilwatch International, theglobal south network of groups resisting oiland gas extractive activities. ERA/FoEN isalso co-coordinating Friends of the EarthAfrica (FoEA) campaign on FoodSovereignty as well as Climate Justice andEnergy (CJE). ERA is the premier winner ofthe Sophie Prize, the international award inenvironment and development. Theorganization is also a member of the GreenActors of West Africa (GOWA), Network forthe Accountability of TobaccoTransnationals (NATT), and theFramework Convention Alliance(FCA). ERA/FoEN is the co-coordinatingNGO for the Nigeria Tobacco ControlAlliance (NTCA). It is the host of the AfricaTobacco Control Regional Initiative (ATCRI).ERA/FoEN currently operates four offices:Benin (Headquarters), Port Harcourt, Lagosand Yenagoa. The organization has 25 fulltimestaff and several volunteers.ERA/FoEN Programme Areas:Forest and BiodiversityDeforestationResisting Plantations/MonoculturesCommunity Forest ManagementCommunity RightsDrought and DesertificationGender JusticeFood SovereigntyGMOsLand Rights and Agribusiness(Economic Justice)Climate and AgricultureAgrofuelsGender Justice3

we must choose what we eatDemocracy Outreach ProgrammeLegal ResourcesCommunity Resource CentresPolicy AdvocacyMediaElection MonitoringBudget AdvocacyGender JusticeCorporate Accountabilityand Environmental HealthTobacco ControlWater and SanitationCommunity HealthTrade and CorporateGender JusticeEnergy and ExtractivesMiningOil and GasEnergy SovereigntyClimate JusticeInternational FinancialInstitutions (IFIs)RenewablesGender Justice4

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAacknowledgementOur sincere appreciation goes to our partners for their support:OxfamNovib NetherlandsFriends of the Earth InternationalTobacco-Free Kids Action FundAmerican Cancer SocietyCancer Research UKNational Endowment for DemocracyCordaidThird World Network (TWN)International Development Research Centre (IDRC)World Rainforest Movement (WRM)KairosMiliudefesse, Friends of the Earth NetherlandsFriends of the Earth Norway/NORADGlobal Greengrants Fund (GGF)5

we must choose what we eatexecutive director ’s commentstruggles on the side of forest communitiesand in struggles against the destructiveactivities of oil companies, as well as themerchandising of death by the tobaccoindustry.ur work in 2010 remained trueto our anchor: connecting withOthe grassroots in their strugglesfor the respect of their environmental andhuman rights and to ensure that theirdignity is secured. It was a year of learningon many fronts as we drank from the wellsof wisdom so refreshingly abundant in localcommunities.While our struggles have been essentiallyembedded in the local communities ofNigeria, we had the privilege of strugglingwith others across Africa and beyond. Suchsignificant engagements occurred in ourThe number of cells of the HostCommunities Network, birthed in 2007 toeliminate the dichotomy betweencommunities that host oil infrastructureand those that merely host the impacts,grew in number and effectiveness. Throughour hosting of the Oilwatch network, wehelped midwife the expansion of thenetwork to other African countries such asCameroon, Ghana and Uganda in thecourse of the year. Communities in the oilfields continue to demand that oil be left inthe soil because the soil is more beneficialto them than oil that brings destruction tolocal environments as well as the climate.More fragile ecosystems are being targetedby the extractive industries and local6

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAeconomies are being decimated in theirwake. Just think of Ghana where at leastthree oil spills were recorded before the firstcommercial shipment of crude oil. Spare athought also to oil activities in the gamesreserve and around Lake Albert in Uganda'srift valley. No territory is sacred when ascent of crude is in the air.We confronted the issue of land grabs inNigeria and Africa as well as the falsepromises of agrofuels on the continent.Standing and marching with the peopleremained our core platform. At home, weled advocacy visits by community activiststo organs of the National Assembly andalso stood by them as they litigated, athome and abroad, for their rights. Togetherwith other civil society groups we fought tocreate a space for environmental andcommunity rights in the proposedPetroleum Industry Bill (PIB), a major pieceof legislation aimed to reposition the oiland gas sector in Nigeria.On the global scene, working within theglobal federation of environmental NGOs,Friends of the Earth International, we werepart of history as we took part in thePeoples Summit on Climate Change andthe Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba,Bolivia in April.The summit was a meeting of peoples andsocial movements in the wake of thescandalous failure of the climatenegotiations in Copenhagen. In attendancewere 35,000 people from 120 countries ofthe world as well as about 54 officialdelegations. The Cochabamba PeoplesAgreement rejected market mechanismsand other false solutions paraded by officialclimate change negotiators as beingcapable of solving the climate crisis. Whatclimate negotiations in Copenhagen (2009)and the in Cancun (2010) at the close of theyear could not achieve was attained withintwo days of open and dispassionatediscussions by the peoples of the world7

we must choose what we eatwhose voices governments claim torepresent. Still, they have been adamant innot respecting the outcome of theCochabamba Summit. I was privileged to beamong the civil society actors thataccompanied the president of Bolivia, EvoMorales Ayma, to present the outcome of thePeoples Summit on Climate Change and theRights of Mother Earth to the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations in May 2010.Our National Environmental Consultationentered its third year in 2010. At thisconsultation we set our lenses on the Politicsof Hunger. These consultations are quicklyturning into international events withparticipants from many African countries andEurope in attendance. The consultationconcluded that the global food crisis hasclearly shown that hunger results from a mixof factors. The consultation called on theNigerian government to pursue ecologicalfriendlyagriculture, reject agriculturalmodern biotechnology and support smallscalefamily farmers. Incidentally, PresidentGoodluck Jonathan had made the same pointin his address at the opening of theconsultation.As the year drew to a close, a number ofthings stood out for me and for theorganisation. First was the suit broughtagainst BP for their massive oil spill in the Gulfof Mexico. The suit was filed in November2010 at the Constitutional Court of Ecuadorbased on the provision for the Rights ofNature in their 2008 constitution. I washonoured to be part of the international teamthat filed the suit there. While at Ecuador, Ireceived the Honoured Guest of Quito Awardalong with Vandana Shiva of India from theMayor of the city.Finally, the receipt of the Right LivelihoodAward in December was a great honour thatsignified the correctness of the work we do atERA/FoEN and our commitment to stand withthe suffering local communities.As we look back at 2010 I applaud the hardwork of ERA people, our allies and supporters.You are all part of our success story. It wasquite a year.In solidarity!Nnimmo Bassey8

finally, amovement againsthunger

we must choose what we eatfinally, a movement against hungern its commitment to putting the hungerquestion on the front burner of nationaldiscourse to engender policy change, IERA/FoEN during the year facilitated theformation of a movement of Nigerians toengage the government on the issues of foodsecurity. The movement christened“Nigerian Peoples' Food SovereigntyCoalition” will henceforth act as a pressuregroup.The formation of the interest group was theh i g h p o i n t o f t h e 2 0 1 0 N a t i o n a lEnvironmental Consultation (NEC) which hadas its theme “The Politics of Hunger”. Theconsultation had impressive attendance fromvarious sectors and stakeholders includingnon-governmental and community-basedgroups, researchers, the academia, students,the media, government agencies, andfarmers from across the country. Participantsalso came from Ghana, Tanzania, South Africaand Norway.The consultation held in Abuja fromNovember 16 to 19, was designed primarily toexamine the place of food aid, agriculturalmodern biotechnology, the move towards anew green revolution for Africa and landgrabs, in the face of hunger and malnutritionaffecting a significant number of Africanpeople. It also served as a convergence tobuild knowledge and skills on Biosafetysystems, GMOs and AGRA; and an avenue tobuild the capacity of groups that will makecontributions in the strengthening of theBiosafety Systems and the fight against GMOsin Nigeria and the continent as a whole. On awider scale, it galvanized the importance ofecologically-friendly agriculture10

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAand the need to build resistance by civilsociety, media, and farmers to false solutionsbeing promoted by biotech companies.Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director ofERA/FoEN and the Chairperson, Friends of theEarth International welcomed participantswith an address titled “We Must Not PlayPolitics with Hunger”. This address gaveparticipants a clear picture of what the goalsof the conference were all about: “to examinewhat has made Africa to become a continentat risk”. The conference was to examine howAfrica has become the poster continent forhunger and poverty whereas she was a netfood exporter in the 1960s. According to him,African countries have been opened tomanipulation by international financialinstitutions as well as aid and developmentagencies. Such bodies draft policy directionsand foist them on African countries includingNigeria.In a keynote address on the theme “Can AfricaFeed Itself?”, Dr. Olaseinde Arigbede,National Coordinator/Animator, Union ofSmall and Medium Farmers Association ofNigeria (USMEFAN) said that Africa is aGrade A continent with enviable naturalendowments and as such can feed itself.Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan whowas represented by Mr. Ken Saro Wiwa jnr,assured participants that government will doall it can to help farmers and encourage moreyoung people to become farmers whileproviding incentives that would re-energizethe agricultural sector. Other speakers at thefirst day of the consultation include AkselNaerstad, Senior Policy Adviser, TheDevelopment Fund Norway, who said hungeris unacceptable and the right to adequatefood is human right. His paper was titled “ThePeoples Framework to Eradicate Hunger: It'sRelevance for Africa”. Abdulai Darimani ofThird World Network Africa spoke on“Interventionist Philanthropism and the NewFace of capitalism in African Agriculture”.Two plenary sessions addressed the criticaltopic: “The Green Revolution, Past Impactsand Current Issues” with speakers from acrossAfrica sharing experience on the growth ofgenetically modified crops. Resource personstackled the issues of food security, hungerand the food deficits in Nigeria.11

we must choose what we eatA major highlight of the event was theconferment of the Comrade Che IbeguraAward on the Environment on Madam JulianaOdey. Odey popularly known as “MamaCassava” was honoured for her activecampaign and mobilization of rural womenon the need to cultivate cassava and resistGMO’s.RECOMMENDATIONSThe robust consultations and paneldiscussions at the conference made someobservations which helped put the issue ofhunger in perspective. The conferenceconcluded that hunger is not only theabsence of food but more critically the lack ofaccess to food. Another point was thatalthough the language of hunger is universal,what is not really universal is the question ofwhy people are hungry especially in Africa.The conference called for the following:Massive awareness campaigns at thegrassroots to educate the local people onthe dangers of ceding their lands toanybody for cultivation of Agro-fuels,because of its negative consequences.The establishment of effective systems tomonitor and block the entry of GMOswhich participants agreed threatenbiodiversity and poses dangers to theenvironment and health.Nigeria and other African countries to givemassive support to small scale farmers asone of the critical ways to ensure foodsecurity and elimination of hunger in thecountry and the continent.African youths to be encouraged toconsider farming as a viable and attractivechoice. The conference also made strictdemands on land and asked that all landstaken from local people for the purpose ofagro fuel be returned to them while alsoasking for the criminalization of landgrabbing.The National Environmental Consultation wassuppor ted by the United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP), NorgesNaturvernforbund (NNV), Oxfam Novib,12

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAThird World Network (TWN) and Friends ofthe Earth International (FoEI).Aside the successes of the Consultation, ERA'sFood Sovereignty Programme engaged otherregional groups in answering the foodquestion at global levels. Meetings attendedin this regard include the Forum forAgribusiness and Agrofuels which held in El-Salvador, 3- 5 June 2010, hosted by Friends ofthe Earth El Salvador, the Land Grabbing inAfrica Joint Strategy and Capacity Buildingmeeting held in Accra, Ghana, 4-9 September,and the Consultation on the Tenure of Landand Natural Resources in Addis Ababa 20-22September .13

Spills:Niger Delta versusGulf of Mexico

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIASpills: gulf of mexico versus niger deltauring the year, ERA/FoENcontinued its monitoring anddocumentation efforts in the oil- Dpolluted communities of the Niger Delta.Interestingly, the year also marked theoccurrence of the Gulf of Mexico blow-outwhich received mammoth hypocriticalattention when compared with the situationin the Niger Delta.The April 20, explosion on BP’s DeepwaterHorizon killed 11 workers and caused massiveenvironmental disaster with over 206 milliongallons of crude spewed into the gulf. Butthese figures and volumes are little whencompared with the situation in the NigerDelta where similar occurrences routinely ruinfarmlands and livelihoods.Oil companies like Shell, Agip and Chevronoperating in the Niger Delta lived up to theirhypocritical response to pollution from theirfacilities, evading remediation andcompensation for impacted communities .Confirmed cases of negligence on the part ofthe companies were blamed on innocentlocal people. ERA/FoEN did not relent incataloguing spills in the oil-communities.A feature common to all communities wheretestimonies were taken indicated regulardestruction of the environment by oilcompanies who seemed to have perfected astrategy of shoddy scooping of spilt crudeand avoidance of remediation of theenvironment all together.Aside Ikarama, communities affected inBayelsa included Umbugbene, Ondewari,Oruma and Ogbunugbene. Umbugbene andOndewari experienced routine spills fromAgip facilities, starting in March. There was amajor oil spill and fire along Agip's 24-inchOporoma/Ogboibiri pipeline and thec o m p a n y ' s W e l l h e a d w i t h i nOndewari/Okpotuwari. Ondewari community15

we must choose what we eatexperienced yet another incident in June atthe Tebidaba/Ogboinbiri flow line whichdevastated the surrounding environment.In May, Oruma community which hadconsistently experienced ruptures from Shellfacility in previous years, witnessed the first ofsuch incidents from an Agip pipeline whichspewed crude on farmlands, and left hugenumber of snails dead.In July, the company was also blamed forviolation of the environment close to its TaylorCreek Wellhead where a gas leak occured.Trees and shrubs affected wilted and diedwhile petroleum products covered very wideexpanse of land, spreading into ponds andother bodies of water. When ERA's/FoEN fieldmonitors visited the site that month, massivegas leak was still observed coming out of thepipeline.Sadly, the company failed to heed the appealof the community for an immediate clampingof the leak. Agip only mobilized to stop theleak in June, four days after we tookjournalists to see the situation first-hand. Thegas leak occured in May and went on for threeweeks.Ogbunugbene community in Sagbama LocalGovernment Area had its own bitter share ofthe bleeding pipes. The volume of crude oilthat escaped the pipes was so massive that itspread to the swamps of three neighbouringcommunities - Okpotuwari, Ondewari andUmbugbene, with serious impacts on ponds,farmlands, economic trees and entire swampfishing areas.Like Agip, so also is Shell which was blamedfor five of the six spills experienced in IkaramaCommunity between the months of June andAugust.16

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAThe areas affected included Shell's OkordiaManifold, the Adibawa/Okordia Delivery Lineand along Shell Trans-Niger/RumuekpeTrunkline.In the same month, Delta State was notspared the effects of the bleeding pipes asfish farmers in Ekpan Community in UvwieLGA suffered major fish loss in their pondsfrom a spill traced to Chevron facility thataffected the nearby Ekpan River.Community folks also blamed Shell for mostspills that occurred in Rivers State, particularlythe ones that occurred in Bodo, Gokana LocalGovernment Area and along the company'sJK4 pipeline at Edagberi and Owerewere inAhoada West and Abua Odual LocalGovernment Areas in September andOctober. And as is the case with Agip andChevron, the company accused locals ofsabotage.Monitoring agencies like the National Oil SpillDetection and Response Agency (NOSDRA)still did not live up to their responsibility ofdetecting and coordinating oil spill responseactivities and penalising companies foundwanting.17

we must choose what we eatUnfortunately, the persistent ecologicaldisaster in the Niger Delta has not received asmuch attention as the outrage that trailed theGulf of Mexico incident which compelled USPresident Barrack Obama to convene a June16, 2010 meeting where BP was forced tocommit to a $20 billion remediation fund.Despite several decades of unending spillsand unquantifiable damage to theenvironment, the Nigerian government hasfailed to make the oil corporations pay forwanton destruction of the environment.This brazen lopsidedness in handling a matterof grave concern has only sharpened ourresolve to continue to engage communitieson environmental monitoring in the incomingyears.18

tobacco-free africareceives majorboost

we must choose what we eatTobacco-free africa receives major boosthe quest for effective coordinationamong major organisationsinvolved in activities aimed at Treducing tobacco use in Sub-Sahara Africabecame a reality in 2010 with thecommencement of the Africa TobaccoControl Consortium (ATCC) projects.The ATCC is led by the American CancerSociety (ACS) and includes other partnerssuch as the Africa Tobacco Control Alliance(ATCA), Africa Tobacco Control RegionalInitiative (ATCRI), Framework ConventionAlliance (FCA - AFRO region), Campaign forTobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) and theInternational Union Against Tuberculosis andLung Disease (The Union).ATCRI which is being hosted by ERA/FoEN isone of the three implementing partners inAfrica. ATCRI has commenced theimplementation of ATCC projects for which ithas been assigned leading roles. They includetechnical assistance to tobacco control actorsin sub-saharan Africa, a multilanguageTobacco Control Resource Centre( w w w . a f r i c a t o b a c c o c o n t r o l . o r g ) ,Communications , Journalists trainings,Languages Coordination and Researchactivities.Besides, ATCRI during the period successfullyimplemented a scoping of tobacco controlsituation in six African countries namelyBenin, Botswana, Mozambique, Ethiopia,Togo and Uganda. The objective of theexercise was to deepen the understanding oftobacco control situations in those countries,identify obstacles to effective tobacco controland identify policy interventions.A step forward on National TobaccoControl BillTo further pressure the parliament for thepassage of the National Tobacco Control BillERA/FoEN intensified its legislative advcocyactivities during the period. Several advocacyvisits were made to the National Assemblyand other collaborating governmentinstitutions and agencies.20

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAThe visits were used by ERA/FoEN team tomeet with select parliamentarians and the keychampion of the bill particularly when itbecame obvious that the legislative processwas being compromised by proxies oftobacco companies.In October , ERA/FoEN's team delivered apetition to the Senate President, David Markrequesting for a meeting between him andthe Nigerian tobacco control community.Similar petition was also delivered same dayto the Chair of the Health Committee. Thoseactions helped a great deal in moving the billforward as the Chair called into ERA/FoENoffice to fix another meeting while the SenatePresident responded officially promising thepassage of the bill in a letter dated 18 October,2010.In addition, ERA/FoEN also monitored andexposed the underhand marketing andpromotion activities targeting youths.ERA/FoEN exposed the “Bursting withFlavour” smoking party to parties organisedby the British American Tobacco (BATN).We exposed an all- night smoking partyorganized by BAT at the Ajeromi -IfelodunArea of Lagos and a similar event organized atan expensive restaurant, OceanView, in Lagoson September 24.The two expose have led to series of meetingsbetween ERA/FoEN and the officials of theLagos State House of Assembly on how toenact laws to end those practices.21

genderbeyond borders

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAgenderacross bordershe year ended on a glistening notewith the gender committee.TIt was a year in which projects targeted atprojecting the plights of women as well asfinding answers to them were executed. It wasa year in which gender-sensitiveness in theorganisational setting and externalmainstreaming in the forms of fieldmonitoring and multi-faceted campaignstook a renewed and expansive dimension.One of the first activities implemented by thecommittee was the publication of an editionof the quarterly Environmental ImpactNewsletter wholly dedicated to genderissues. With the cover title; ' OurEnvironment, Our Women', it covered awide range of women-related campaigns,activities, publications and testimonies of'environmentally dislocated women' of theNiger Delta.Also in the year several meetings and forumswere organised to deepen debates aroundgender issues and map out action plans.Among the meetings, seminars androundtables was the 'International Women'sDay' 2010. It was colourfully commemoratedin three of the four ERA/FoEN offices namelyBenin, Lagos and Port Harcourt, to especiallyr a i s e a w a r e n e s s a b o u t w o m e n' senvironmental rights issues in the country.Amongst others, the Lagos meeting hadfrontline female activist and President ofCampaign for Democracy (CD), Joe Okei-Odumakin, as guest of honour.Also, in an attempt to continually beam thesearchlight on women-related issues,ERA/FoEN held the first ever 'Women andTobacco' symposium to mark the World NoTobacco Day (WNTD) 2010 whose theme was”Tobacco Marketing to Women”. Thesymposium attracted about 100 participants23

we must choose what we eatmainly women as well as students, journalists,tobacco control activists, former smokers.Gender -Friendly Workplace:In ensuring that ERA/FoEN maintains agender-friendly workplace, two crèches werecreated and equipped. They are located in theBenin and Lagos offices to create a workfriendlyatmosphere for nursing mothers inboth offices.Similarly, the organisation producedERA/FoEN Gender Justice Policy bookletwhich encompasses the policies and practiseof the organisation with regards to genderequity and justice.Women in Impacted CommunitiesAs part of creating platforms for stirring updiscourse, finding out first hand about issuesaffecting women, ERA/FoEN organised seriesof meetings across the Niger Delta in 2010.Two of such meetings which were aimed atsensitization, experience sharing and forstrategising attracted women from about 12communities in two states (Warri in Delta andPort Harcourt in Rivers States).It witnessed testimonies, discussions andstrategies for future actions. The PortHarcourt event had in attendance twocommissioners namely, the commissioner forInformation, Ibim Semenitari, ManuelaGeorge Izunwa and a representative of theCommissioner for Environment, IsaacNwankwo all of whom explained governmentefforts, answered questions from theparticipants, as well as outlined government'sintervention towards mitigating the negativeimpacts of the extractive industry and multifacetedinjustices perpetrated against hostcommunities. The meetings held onDecember 6 and 8 consecutively.24

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIATaking Gender Beyond BordersIn 2010, ERA/FoEN coordinated a project onPipelines and Gender' by FoEI in collaborationwith Gender Action (USA), meant to examinethe Gender Impact of the West African GasPipelines Project (WAGP) and the Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipelines with a view toaddressing them. It took off in April 2010.ERA/FoEN coordinated the four FoE countryassociates involved namely FoE Ghana, FoETogo, FoE Cameroon (CED) and FoE Nigeria(ERA).The project, coordinated by Betty Abah,ERA/FoEN's Gender Focal Person, witnessedseveral sensitization, research (datacollection) and advocacy activities incommunities in the four countries. On theN i g e r i a n f r o n t , s e v e r a lfamiliarization/mobilization visits wereundertaken to the communities in Badagry,Lagos ahead of the research and advocacyactivities.The team, made up of ERA staff andvolunteers were intimated of plans by theWAGP consortium to start flaring gas at theBadagry Terminal. There were reported casesof ill health arising from emissions from theterminal station.In addition, there was also a capacity buildingworkshop in Cameroon for staff of the fourFoE country partners attended by ERA’s BettyAbah and Philip Jakpor (Project Officer/Headof Media) community awareness gatheringswere coordinated by Abah in the fourcountries, to extract testimonies and furthersensitize them to claim their rights.ERA/FoEN LeadsBesides executing the GMLT, ERA/FoEN alsotook par t as leading par tner onOxfam/Novib’s Measuring Milestones'project which entails comprehensivemonitoring and evaluation of successes25

we must choose what we eatrecorded in campaign/project objectives.ERA/FoEN was selected by Oxfam/Novib towork with the country coordinator BunmiDipo-Salami to train other GMLT partners onthe project.As part of the project, Abah and Dipo-Salamiattended a training for Oxfam/Novibspar tners from about 10 countries(counterparts from Africa, Asia and theMiddle East, with training by Gender at workand ON's staff in Cairo, Egypt betweenOctober 11-15, 2010. ERA/FoEN now has thetask of transfering the knowledge and skills inthis new innovative monitoring mechanismwhich among others utilises the 'Story-tellingtechnique' to partners and within its otherorganisational campaigns.26

cancun hosts carbontradersCredit: Shtig(.net).

we must choose what we eatcancun hostscarbon tradershe United Nations FrameworkConvention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) 16th Conference of the TParties (COP16) met in Cancun, Mexico 29November to 11 December 2010.COP16 followed the earlier meeting inCopenhagen in 2009 that yielded theinfamous Copenhagen Accord. Progress onthe climate negotiations have been slow anddifficult with industralised nations reluctantto make commitments to binding emissionsreduction while promoting mechanisms thatallow them to pollute and offset the emissionsthrough actions taken off shore, often in theglobal South.needed actions that would not only securethe lowest possible temperature increasesabove pre industrial levels but also call forrecognition and payment of climate debt andother commitments to finance climatemitigation and adaptation. These demandswere articulated in the “Peoples Agreement”reached in Cochabamba, Bolivia, in April2010.ERA/ FoEN was actively involved in workingwith climate justice groups as well as othersocial movements in promoting the “PeoplesAgreement” in Cancun and below are twoblog postings from our own Nnimmo basseywho also was in Cancun in his capacity as FoEIchair.African nations and small island states areamong the most vulnerable to the ravages ofclimate change. Little wonder they have beenvociferous in calling for real actions to tacklethe crisis. Bolivia stands out as a champion ofsocial movements’ articulations of theThe two postings gave insights intohappenings at the Cancun negotiations. Hisblogs were published on ERA's website as wellas on the website of Friends of the EarthInternational (www.foei.org) and of Friends oft h e E a r t h N o r w a y(http://naturvernforbundet.no )28

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAClimate Negotiations Stuck in the Market- Nnimmo BasseyLast year in Copenhagen, the conference ofthe parties (COP) of the United NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) began and ended under a cloud ofdoubts and perceived undemocratic actions.At that meeting many delegations fromdeveloping and vulnerable nations believedthat drafts of what would be the finaloutcome document were being discussedand circulated within privileged circles awayfrom the standard practice where suchnegotiations took place on the openconference floor.This year's COP has just opened in Cancun,Mexico, and already delegates are afraid thatthe same trend that closed the door toreaching a fair and concrete agreement atCopenhagen is already in motion. Whereas inCopenhagen there was a steady flow ofleaked documents allegedly prepared by thePresident of the COP, this time around thefears are being raised by the texts prepared bythe Chair of the ad hoc working group onLong-term Cooperative Action (LCA). Theother major working group under the COP isthe one that deals with the Kyoto Protocol.The year between conferences is spent intechnical negotiations and preparationsduring which delegations review textsprepared by chairpersons of the workinggroups on the basis of the submissions madeby the delegations or members.The document produced by the chair of theLCA appears to be something quite atvariance with what many delegates expectedwould be the outcome of the negotiationsand work done since Copenhagen. Thedocument that delegates are to debate isallegedly based on the “Copenhagen Accord”which some delegate insist was not anagreement at the end of COP15, but wasmerely taken note of by that conference.29

we must choose what we eatQuestions are being asked why such adocument would now be legitimised andmade the foundation for serious negotiationsexpected to produce a fair and ambitiousagreement at the end of the conference inCancun? Perhaps we can describe theunderpinning and the tone of the ongoingUNFCCC negotiations as being a product ofthe monoculture of the mind using a conceptdescribed by the noted eco-feminist,Vandana Shiva as a one-dimensional way ofthinking that is “the primary threat to natureand people today” through the centralisingand monopolising of power and control.”The Cancun conference has opened with thestrengthening of the steps rich countries havedeterminedly made into the quicksand of thecarbon market. The market is seen as a silverbullet to the problems of the climate crisis andat the same time provides tools for richcountries to shirk responsibility and for offloadingburdens onto already bent andbroken backs of poor nations. This silverbullet is also being exploited to provide amodel for merchandising nature and for therewarding corporate adventurers throughcarbon market speculations.After the Copenhagen conference endedwithout an agreement, the government ofBolivia hosted a first ever World PeoplesConference on Climate Change and theRights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba inApril 2010. The outcome of that conferencewas the Peoples Agreement that thegovernment of Bolivia then articulated into aformal submission to the UNFCCC as well asthe Secretary General of the United Nations.The essential fault line between thosefollowing the path crafted by theCopenhagen Accord and those who do notaccept it as the way towards and fairagreement that recognises the principle ofcommon and differentiated responsibilitiesare quite serious and the resolution has deep30

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAconsequences for the future of our planet andthe species that inhabit it, includinghumankind.The draft text circulated by the Chair of theLCA puts forward the ambition that actionsshould be geared towards keeping globaltemperature increase at 2 degrees Celsius asopposed to proposals made by a number ofdelegations that the target should bebetween 1 degree and 1.5 degreestemperature rise above 1990 levels. Analystssee a target of 2 degrees as essentiallysentencing Africa and other vulnerableregions to incineration because of expectedenhanced levels of temperature rise in suchareas.The text in question has also disregarded thedemand by vulnerable nations that to ensureurgent and robust technology transfer for thepurpose of mitigation and adaptation suchtransfers should not be governed bysubsisting intellectual property rightsregimes.Another sore point in the text is that thefinancial commitment proposed does notstep up to the level of ambition needed totackle the climate crisis and is even lessserious than what was suggested by the socalledCopenhagen Accord.Critics insist that the text presented fornegotiations is not based on human rightsand does not recognise submissions madewith regard to the rights of Mother Earth. Thecritical demand of recognising and paymentof a climate debt owed the poor countries bythe rich ones as a surer mechanism fordealing with historical issues as well asmeeting urgent financial requirements hasalso been ignored.The Bolivian delegation sums up the situationthis way: “the new text does not reflect thevarious proposals of the G77 and China, nordoes it take into account the proposals of theWorld People's Conference on Climate31

we must choose what we eatChange and the Rights of Mother Earth, whichrepresent the demands of the more than35,000 delegates that gathered last April inCochabamba, Bolivia.” The delegation adds “itis essential to uphold the multilateral processat COP 16 and to avoid the emergence ofdocuments that have not been negotiated, aswas the case last year in Copenhagen.”Considering the serious divide already on theconference floor, the question now is whatlesson has the world learnt since last year andwhat would happen in the next days to makethe outcome of the Cancun conferencedifferent from that of Copenhagen.After One week in Cancun- By Nnimmo BasseyThe first week of COP16 ended on a foggynote. It was unclear what the final week wouldyield and what would happen when all theministers arrive and the political horsetradingtakes over from negotiations led bytechnocrats. Some ministers arrived over theweekend and engaged in some informal talks.With Japan's clear signal earlier in the weekthat they would not support any secondcommitment period of the Kyoto protocolmany delegates and observers expressedshock at the seeming infanticide. They sawJapan's action as that of a mother attemptingto kill her child. This imagery is compellingbecause the Kyoto protocol was birthed inJapan in 1997 and it was indeed a high pointof the COP held that year.Japan is not the only country here that wouldbe happy not to have to make legally bindingcommitments on emissions reduction asrequired by the Kyoto Protocol. The USA, forinstance, at COP15 in Copenhagenintroduced the so-called Copenhagen Accord(CA), which essentially sought to side step theKyoto Protocol. For such countries, whatwould work is a regime of voluntary emissionsreductions that adds to unknown levels oftemperature increases.32

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAObservers, including Friends of the EarthInternational (FoEI), read this move to kill theKyoto Protocol to mean setting the world on apath towards spirally climate change. In fact,analysts say that the proposal to skipscientifically reached emissions cuts levels forrich countries would mean that there wouldbe no way of working towards a predictableaggregate temperature rise level. Some havegone ahead to say that what is being pushedby the rich nations would translate to apossible 4-5 degrees Celsius rise intemperature above pre-industrial levels. Thisat a time when some delegates are calling for1-1.5 degrees Celsius target.What would a temperature rise of 5 degreesCelsius mean? Would there be possibilities ofadaptation measures that would save theplanet? Would there be suitable mitigationmoves? Not probable. If voluntary,uncoordinated emissions reduction regimesmean catastrophic temperature rises,why would nations shoot for actions thatwould lead to such an outcome?The rich nations appear to control thesubterranean levers of the negotiations, butthere are also strong forces from less richblocks pushing for retention of the KyotoProtocol and ensuring that science and justicebased emissions targets are set for a secondcommitment period of the protocol (2013-2017). The Group of 77 and China is one ofsuch political blocks.Secret Texts?By the weekend, rumours made the roundthat the Mexican COP presidency wascooking a secret text that would skip themultilateral negotiation process. This wouldmean that ministers would arrive in Cancunand race to conclude the COP without robustscrutiny of points that were yet to be resolvedeither in plenary sessions or in the variousworking groups.33

we must choose what we eatComing after the Copenhagen debacle, theMexicans appear cautious not to fall into thesame corner as the Danes. They are said to beengaging in wide behind the scenesnegotiations with regard to the content ofwhat may turn out to be the Cancun Accord.While that has been going on, observersbelieve that the process is very flawed andthat the principles of openness andtransparency are being flouted. Onedelegate was overheard saying that theprocess should guide the outcome.Information emanating from the lobbies ofthe negotiation halls suggests that theMexican COP is actually more focused on the“content” than on the process that would leadto an ambitious outcome. Who cooks thecontent?It is assumed, critics say, that at the end of theday, negotiators will turn a blind eye on theprocess if the content is something they canlive with. If this happens, we can also ask thequestion: why not conduct these negotiationsvia e-mail and spare the huge resources spentin convening conferences only to end uphaving a few folks draft texts and othersbrowbeaten to step in line?There has been no shortage of complaintsabout the texts currently in circulation inCancun. The Bolivian delegates for one saidthat new text is not balanced and that the“parties' text” should be used rather thantexts prepared by facilitators and the COPChair. The Nicaraguan delegation argues thatfacilitators cannot interpret party positionsand termed the new text as “an informal text.”Nigeria, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela,Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and othersinsisted on the continuation of the KyotoProtocol. All these are more emanated fromthe informal plenary that was held on Sunday,December 5.34

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAThat reminds me. The other day a delegatespoke about how several nations ended upendorsing the Copenhagen Accord after firstrejecting it at COP15. What we did not hear isthat some nations actually did so to avoidbeing denied aid. In fact, at least twocountries that did not sign the Accord weredenied aid by the USA possibly aspunishment for being recalcitrant.The Caravans are in townAt the weekend, popular mobilisation spacesin the centre of Cancun came to live as thecaravans arrived in town from various parts ofMexico and from neighbouring countrieswith thousands of people. FoEI memberswere on hand to welcome caravans ofmembers of La Via Campesina, OilwatchInternational as well as some indigenousgroups. On Friday, the first public protestmarch took place from the municipal office toa Wal-Mart supermarket denouncing theWorld Bank for seeking to become a climatebank.Several events took place in the popularspaces, far away from the restricted officialnegotiation halls of the Moon Palace Hoteland the exhibition spaces of Cancunmesse.As we enter the crunch week, the voices of thepeople will intensify from the streets ofCancun and from the popular convergencespaces. The demand will rise for climatejustice and for the defence of Pachamama(Mother Earth or Nature).The people are demanding the elimination ofcorporate lobby from the climatenegotiations and for truly ambitiousemissions cuts. The people are calling for thetackling of the systemic causes of climatechange including leaving fossil fuels in theground and moving on to a mode ofcivilisation steered away from carbonemissions dependency.How will it all end? We keep our eyes and earsopen.35

new skills for staff, volunteers,journalists infield monitoring

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAnew skills for staff, volunteers,journalists in field monitoringRA/FoEN organized several trainingsand workshops aimed at building theEcapacities of staff and volunteers torespond to the ever- evolving environmentalchallenges in the country and beyond. Thetrainings were not limited to environmentalmonitoring and reporting, but extended tojournalists in the mainstream media to enablethem effectively identify and report theenvironment from the point of knowledge.To boost the capacity of staff to effectivelycarr y out monitoring of identifiedenvironmental threats, a two-day fieldmonitors training was organized 3-5 August2010 at the Ken Saro Wiwa gallery of ERA/FoEN.Executive Director, Nnimmo Basseyexplained that the training was anopportunity to re-affirm ERA/FoEN corephilosophy that all staff are field monitorswho must ensure that any harm to theenvironment is not swept under the carpet.Bassey insisted that “if there are no fieldmonitors, impunity cannot be exposed”,challenging participants not only to bewhistleblowers but also to be very factual andin-depth in their reports as this wouldempower impacted people to stand up in theface of evil and injustice.A guest speaker, Huzi Mshelia, noted thatpeople's livelihoods are always at stakewhenever there is an unreported violationand that this should take priority in fieldreports. Other topics in the very robusttraining included Environmental FieldMonitoring & Media Advocacy and GenderJustice and Participatory Field Monitoringand were taken by ERA’s programmesDirector Godwin Uyi Ojo, Philip Jakpor andBetty Abah.Journalists TrainingsIn 2010, trainings were not limited only tostaff as ERA/FoEN broadened theengagement of journalists on environmentalissues by organizing the third and fourth37

we must choose what we eatJournalists trainings (Warri and Abuja). Fundsfor the trainings were provided by VIKES, theF i n n i s h F o u n d a t i o n f o r M e d i a ,Communication and Development.The first training was organized in Effurun,Delta State on 6-9 April 2010 at theWellington Hotels and Towers. The eventdrew media participants from the Benin-Warri axis while facilitators included lawyers,women rights groups and renowned Nigerianjournalists. Timo Sipola, a Finnish journalist,along with Anders Parmann, Anna Tresse andSimon Strumse of the Socialist Youth Leagueof Norway were also at the training to shareexperiences with Nigerian journalists.A field trip to Ubeji, an oil-impactedcommunity near Warri, and group discussionwere also integrated into the programme tobring the environmental issues within the axisto the consciousness of the journalists.At the end of the three-day exercise, thirteenJournalists became well-informed on variedenvironmental issues, and agreed to join theNetwork of Journalists for the Environmentestablished in 2009.We did not stop there but decided to drawnational attention to under-reportedenvironmental issues in northern Nigeria byorganising another journalists training at thePeace Haven Hotel, Wuye in Abuja from 8-11September 2010. The thrust of the Abujatraining was to explore strategies forimproving environmental reporting forjournalists working in northern Nigeria.The imperative of the training washighlighted by Executive Director, NnimmoBassey who explained to participants that itwas indisputable that desertification is a keyenvironmental challenge facing northernNigeria and indeed all of sub-Saharan Africaand that it has been estimated that the desertarea was increasing at the rate of more than38

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAhalf a kilometre every year, threatening about35 million Nigerians that depend onimpacted areas for their livelihoods. Anothermajor challenge identified was the shrinkingLake Chad which he said, is also a majorcalamity in northern Nigeria that is yet toattract adequate news reports.A major outcome of the Abuja training wasthe expansion of the Journalist Network toinclude 13 new members from the FederalCapital Territory and environs.39

organisationalmilestones

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAorganisational milestonesremarkable achievement forERA/FoEN in the year was theArecognition of the ExecutiveDirector, Nnimmo Bassey by the RightLivelihood Award Foundation, which madehim one of the four winners of the 'AlternativeNobel Prize'.The foundation, which was established in1980, honours and supports individualsoffering practical and exemplary solutions tothe most urgent challenges facing the world.The award is widely recognized as the world'spremier award for personal courage andsocial transformation and enables recipientsto reach out to an international audience thatotherwise might not have heard of them. It ispresented annually in Stockholm at aceremony in the Swedish Parliament.Unlike the Nobel Prizes (for Physics,Physiology/Medicine, Chemistry, Literature,and Peace), the Right Livelihood Award has nocategories. It recognises that, in striving tomeet the human challenges of today's world,the most inspiring and remarkable work oftendefies any standard classification. Also Basseywas awarded the honour as an HonouredGuest of Quito, Ecuador along with VandanaShiva, the world-renowned eco-feminist. Theaward ceremony was held with full pomp atthe city hall with Mayor and school childrenusing the occasion to launch a fund to keepoil in the soil in the Yasuni ITT Park in theEcuadorian Amazonia.The honour was accorded Bassey for beingone of the principal African campaignadvocates on environmental and humanrights, fighting tirelessly against the practicesand environmental devastation by multinationalcompanies. The MetropolitanDistrict of Quito placed Nnimmo Bassey onpublic record as Quito's illustrious guest.40

we must choose what we eatBesides, In November 2010 the BeninKingdom in Edo State, Nigeria alsorecognised the environmental justicecampaigns of Bassey in its inaugural award forenvironmental sustainability, particularly inthe Niger Delta where resource conflicts arerife.In the same vein, ERA Director, Administration& Programmes, Godwin Uyi Ojo wasconferred the prestigious Africa Noble Awardby Leadtimes Africa Magazine in recognitionof his contributions to strategic nationaldevelopment and pragmatism in leadership.The award is aimed at promoting the virtuesof integrity, accountability and transparencyin public private sectors.Ojo, along with Nnimmo Bassey and OrontoDouglas co-founded ERA in 1993 as aplatform for increasing environmentalawareness and citizens’ response toenvironmental issues.41

financialstatement

we must choose what we eatfinancial statementINCOME AND EXPENDITURE STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2010Note $ NINCOMENOVIB 288,952 43,342,830NNV/ EMiS 214,303 32,145,390NORAD/ NNV 172,073 25,810,899NED 23,970 3,595,500OTHER FUNDERS 205,226 30,783,869904,523 135,678,488EXPENDITURERemuneration 93,728 14,059,262Rent 25,604 3,840,550Field Monitoring & Co-ordination 60,705 9,105,683Campaign,Media& Advocacy 55,815 8,372,200Transport & Travelling 28,038 4,205,690Legislative Promotion 16,000 2,400,000Legal Expenses 26,667 4,000,000Consultancy & Research 12,874 1,931,036Publications & Publicity 42,973 6,445,96043

2010 annual reportwe must choose what we eatENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIAAudit & Administration 15,028 2,254,215Utilities 20,667 3,100,070Meetings&Conferences 272,269 40,840,515Office Running 23,951 3,592,625Networking/ICT 30,180 4,527,000Capacity Building 21,629 3,244,350Evaluation & EIA Training 25,997 3,899,550Community Exchange&Meetings 22,699 3,404,800Bank Charges 6,003 900,424Depreciation 14,655 2,198,210815,481 122,322,140Excess of income over expenditure 89,042 13,356,348Exchange rate $1 = N15044

we must choose what we eat45

Contact AddressesInternational Secretariat#214, Uselu-Lagos Road, Ugbowo,P. O. Box 10577,Benin City, NigeriaTel/Fax: +234-52-880619e-mail: eraction@eraction.orgwebsite: www.eraction.org#10, Ibaa Street, Off Okomoko Street,D-Line, P. O. Box 13708,Port Harcourt, NigeriaTel/Fax: +234-84-896672Niger Delta Resource CentreKoko House, OpoloPMB 114+Yenagoa, NigeriaTel: +234-89-490634#397B, George Crescent,Agbalajobi Estate, Off Wempco Road,Ogba-Ikeja, Lagos, NigeriaTel: +234-1-7418738

“All peoples shall havethe right to (a) generallysatisfactory environment favourableto their development”.-Article 24, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rightseraction@eraction.orgwww.eraction.org