AN APPRAISAL OF LEGAL RESPONSES TO GAS FLARING AND GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA

Author: Tosin Ezekiel Ayo

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to identify and evaluate the legal responses to the challenges of gas flaring and greenhouse emission management in Nigeria. In Nigeria, there is a need to combat the problem of indiscriminate flaring of gas to provide a safe environment for yet-unborn generations. Gas flaring has resulted in the extinction of species in the environment, and once species are depleted to the point of extinction, they cannot be renewed; as a result, the loss of these plant and animal species will make it difficult for future generations to meet their needs. As a result, it is critical to protect these resources to ensure long-term development. In the face of pollution and environmental degradation, maintaining the environment will be a difficult and debilitating challenge to the ecosystem. Exploration of oil and gas has therefore become an environmental albatross in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.  The discharge or flaring of gases from exploration sites pollutes the air, water, and soil. The overreliance on fossil fuels to power cars, industrial machinery and home energy sources in Nigeria has created a risk for petroleum resources, threatening long-term growth. The paper thus introduces the incidences of gas flaring in Nigeria, highlights a brief review of opinions and scholars’ perspectives on the subject and the overview of the challenges of gas flaring and greenhouse gas emission in Nigeria, and explores the impacts of gas flaring in the Nigeria Delta area and the Nigerian ecosystem. The paper finds that there are a number of challenges with the operation, administration and content of the existing legal frameworks and mechanisms available to combat gas flaring and greenhouse gas emissions in Nigeria and there is a need for improvement, to ensure they engender proper clean-up and remediation. The paper concluded by stating that there exists a need to strike a healthy balance between economic development and sustainable development and this can only be achieved if there is a political will on the part of the Nigerian federal government to enforce its anti-gas flaring laws to guarantee energy security and ensure a safe, clean, and healthy environment for all and sundry in Nigeria whilst giving recommendations on the need for effective management, capture, re-use and conversion of flared gases into a power-lean-and-clean project and the regulation/administration of greenhouse emission in Nigeria.

Keywords: Appraisal; Responses; Gas flaring; Emission; Management; Niger Delta; Nigeria.

REFERENCES

  • Ismail, O.S.; Umukoro, G.E. Global Impact of Gas Flaring. Energy Power Eng. 2012, 4, 290–302
  • Nwamaka, I. Gas Flaring in Nigeria, an Abridgement of Human/Fundamental Right. Research Gate. 2016. Available online:<https://www.researchGate.net /publication/317076913>accessed5th October, 2023
  • Iyorakpo, J.; Odibikuma, P.W. Impact of Gas Flaring on the Built Environment: The Case of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers state. Niger. Eur. Sci. J. 2015, 11, 11. Available online: <https://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/view/6232> accessed 5th October 2023
  • Oil Exploration and Spillage in the Niger Delta of Nigeria <http://www.iiste.org/Journals/index…/1868.html> Accessed 20th October, 2023
  • Nigerians Angry at Oil Pollution Double Standards- CNN.com <http://www.cnn.com/…/Africa/…/nigerdelta.html> Accessed 28 October, 2023
  • Ogbuiwe A.E, ‘Compensation and Liability for Oil Pollution in Nigeria’ [1985] JPPL 23
  • DPR Oil and Gas Profile. <http://www.dprnigeria.com/in_thenews.html> Accessed 12th October, 2023
  • Olanrewaju Fagbohun, The Law of Oil Pollution and Environmental Restoration: A comparative Review (Odade Publishing 2010
  • Ito, E.E.; Ify, L.U. Impact of Gas Flaring on Biodiversity in Niger Delta, Nigeria. Niger. J. Sci. Environ. 2017, 15, 147–154
  • Olujobi, O.J.; Olusola-Olujobi, T. Nigeria: Advancing the Cause of Renewable Energy in Nigeria’s Power Sector through its Legal Framework. Environ. Policy Law 2020, 50, 433–444
  • Olarenwaju Fagbohun, The Law of Oil Pollution and Environmental Restoration: A Comparative Review (Odade Publishing 2010)
  • Vesalon, L.; Cre¸tan, R. Mono-industrialism and the Struggle for Alternative Development: The Case of the Rosia Montana Project. Tijdschr. Econ. Soc. Geogr. 2013, 104, 539–555
  • Olujobi, O.J. The Legal Sustainability of Energy Substitution in Nigeria’s Electric Power Sector: Renewable Energy as an Alternative. Prot. Control Mod. Power Syst. 2020, 5, 32
  • Eboh, M. Despite Scarcity of Fund, Nigeria Flares 461 bn Gas in 2019. Vanguard News reports. Available online: <https//:www.vanguardngr.com> accessed 5th October, 2023.
  • Olujobi, O.J. The Legal Sustainability of Energy Substitution in Nigeria’s Electric Power Sector: Renewable Energy as an Alternative. Prot. Control Mod. Power Syst. 2020, 5, 32.
  • Goldenberg, J. Rural Energy in Developing Countries. In World Energy Assessment: Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): New York, NY, USA, 2000
  • Section 232(1) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, Government Notice No. 134.
  • Section 2, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency Act 2007.
  • Olarenwaju Fagbohun, The Law of Oil Pollution and Environmental Restoration: A Comparative Review (Odade Publishing 2010)
  • Associated Gas Reinjection (Continued Flaring of Gas 1984) Regulation. Available online: https://placng.org/i/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AssociatedGasReinjectionAct.pdf accessed 15th October, 2023
  • The Niger Delta Development Commission Act 2000 CAP N86 LFN 2004.
  • Greenhouse Gas Management Program Overview- NREL <https://www.nrel.gov.docs.pdf> Accessed 20th October, 2023
  • Nigeria Commits to Cutting GHG Emissions by 20% by 2030. <https://www.climatescorecard.org> Accessed 20th October, 2023
  • Ishaya, A. Nigeria: The Commercialization Programme: A Win-Win Situation? 2018. Available online: <https://www.mondaq.com/nigeria/oil-gas-electricity/689396/the-nigerian-gas-flare-commercialization-program> Accessed 15th October, 2023.