How exploration by Shell is devastating the lives of Martha and her community
Martha Onisuru is a fisherwoman living in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. At one time there was a great supply of fish, and Martha was able to feed her family. However, since oil company Shell started exploring in the area life for Martha, and her community, has changed for the worse. And Martha is angry.
“Before the arrival of Shell, when we cast our nets there was always a surplus of fish, and we would have problems taking all the fish home. Now that Shell has arrived, and they started burning their fire and spilling oil everywhere, since they came here, we cannot catch fish.”
“We are dying of hunger.”
Martha told us Shell’s exploration in the area has contaminated the local water supply.
“Even the water in our taps now has oil in it since Shell came. Water that is meant for consumption is now contaminated. Whenever we drink from the water, we always come down with stomach ache. The oil has damaged everything.”
How Ireland is contributing to the fossil fuel industry in the Global South
In the face of catastrophic levels of chaos, death and destruction caused by climate change there are uncomfortable truths we need to examine in Ireland.
ActionAid Ireland’s new research How the Finance Flows shows that international institutional investors with subsidiaries registered in Ireland held a mind-blowing US$ 6.2 billion in bonds and shares in fossil fuels and agribusiness in the Global South over a five-year period.
In effect, this means that Ireland functions as a channel for global institutional investors to make maximum profits from their fossil fuel investments in the Global South.
Our research shows that the highest value of investments attributable to fossil fuels in the Global South through Ireland was in large international oil and gas companies. Highest on the list was Exxon Mobil (US$ 1.1 billion), followed by Shell (US$ 550 million) and Chevron (US$ 468 million). Four of the top fifteen investments are in Chinese companies.
Shell’s legacy in the Niger Delta
Ireland’s role in facilitating this investment in fossil fuel has a real and harrowing impact.
Shell is one of the world’s largest privately owned oil companies. Its operations in the Global South have received an estimated US$37.6 billion in financing since 2016. US$ 550 million of this is channeled through Ireland. This ensures that Shell makes the largest profit on its activities through Ireland’s tax regime.
For decades, the oil extraction operations of Shell have been devastating communities in Nigeria’s Niger Delta.
Oil spills and gas flaring have decimated fish populations. This has resulted in the loss of countless fishing livelihoods and a sharp rise in hunger for local people.
