‘Why UNEP Report Is Not Implemented’

Shell Petroleum
Development Company has said inasmuch as it was making progress in implementing the United Nations Environment Programme report on Ogoniland, it cannot singlehandedly implement the report.
In a statement issued last Monday, Shell’s Manager, Media Relations, Mr Precious. Okolobo, said it would take the joint participation of all the stakeholders mentioned in the report to effectively implement the report.
In the statement, titled, ‘Shell Petroleum Development Company’s Actions on UNEP Report’, Okologbo said, “the majority of UNEP’s recommendations require multi-stakeholder efforts coordinated by the Federal Government. However, it is important to emphasise that neither SPDC nor any other stakeholder is in a position to implement the entirety of UNEP’S recommendations unilaterally”.
UNEP report was released in 2011. In the report, UNEP called for the creation of an Ogoniland Restoration Agency and the creation of an Environmental Restoration Fund for Ogoniland. It also asked Shell and other operators in the area to take steps to clean up the environment and decommission non-operational facilities.
The slow response of the various stakeholders in implementing the report has generated criticisms not only from the communities, but from the  environmental rights groups.
But Shell, the largest operator in Ogoniland said, treating the problem of environmental contamination within Ogoniland merely as a technical clean-up exercise would ultimately lead to failure, noting that ensuring long-term sustainability was a much bigger challenge-one that will require coordinated and collaborative action from all stakeholders.