Oil companies have the responsibility to end gas flaring in Nigeria rather than seek to make money through carbon trading on gas flare out projects, a report has said.
The report, ‘Up in Smoke: Gas Flaring, Communities and Carbon Trading in Nigeria,’ prepared by Social Action and released in Abuja on Tuesday, said all oil fields that continue to flare associated gas should be shut down to encourage development of associated gas-gathering infrastructure.
Carbon trading is a mechanism through which entities and organisations in the West buy carbon credits from entities in developing countries involved in remission of greenhouse gasses in order to meet their own requirement.
The report said it was immoral for the companies that had been involved in polluting communities to be rewarded with payments in the name of carbon trading while the communities that had borne the brunt of their gas-flaring activities are neglected.
It said, “Considering that gas flaring is illegal in Nigeria, it amounts to bad faith to consider flare reduction projects in Nigeria as Clean Development Mechanism projects. Gas flaring reduction projects in Nigeria should not qualify for any global carbon credit scheme.
“The only reason why gas is flared in Nigeria is that the Nigerian government fails to abide by its own laws and national commitments to its own people. Oil companies in Nigeria can end gas flaring profitably without recourse to an international carbon market.
“This can be done through a clear commitment by the Nigerian government to abiding by its own laws and commitments to improving local access to electricity which can be enhanced by utilising associated gas.”
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