Shell’s Legal Gymnastics: How to Destroy a Community and Blame the Victims for Not Having a Map!

8 Oct 2024

In yet another jaw-dropping display of corporate acrobatics, Shell—the planet’s most prolific polluter with a conscience as black as the oil it spills—is back in court, twisting itself into legal knots to avoid responsibility for decimating Nigerian communities. This time, the British oil giant has managed to turn a simple quest for justice into an impossible scavenger hunt where the prize is… well, more injustice. Welcome to Shell’s sick new game: “Pin the Spill on the Disaster!”

For over a decade, more than 13,000 members of the Bille and Ogale communities in Nigeria’s Niger Delta have been fighting Shell for turning their land and water into a toxic wasteland. What do they want? Accountability for just over a hundred oil spills that have wrecked their homes, their health, and their ability to farm and fish. What’s standing in their way? Shell, of course—mastermind of dodging responsibility with a smile and a courtroom.

But wait! Shell’s lawyers have discovered a sneaky little trick to avoid paying for the environmental apocalypse they allegedly caused: “Global Claims.” That’s right, folks, Shell convinced the High Court that unless these communities can prove exactly which oil spill ruined exactly which part of their livelihoods—without expert evidence or Shell’s documents, mind you—the whole case falls apart. So even if Shell was responsible for, say, 95% of the destruction, if 5% came from anywhere else (a rogue spill? A really messy fish fry?), Shell skips away, scot-free. Genius, if you’re into corporate evil.

The appeal, heard from October 8-11, 2024, is a last-ditch effort by the Bille and Ogale communities to overturn this absurd ruling that essentially requires them to have had a crystal ball while their rivers turned into sludge. Without the appeal, future environmental claims will be about as viable as clean drinking water in the Niger Delta—which, thanks to Shell, is nonexistent.

Leigh Day’s Dan Leader, who is representing the Nigerian communities, sums it up best: “Our clients are being asked to pinpoint exactly which oil spill or leak caused which incident of pollution on their land at the very outset of their claims. Yet, the sheer scale of the pollution caused by Shell’s subsidiary over many years makes this an impossible task.” Translation: Shell screwed things up so thoroughly that no one can figure out which disaster is which—exactly how they like it.

It’s been ten years since these communities began their legal battle in the UK courts, and many of the claimants have died waiting for justice. But don’t worry, Shell’s doing just fine. In fact, they’ve been happily tying this case up in legal knots since the communities’ Supreme Court victory in 2021, making sure it never gets close to a trial. Classic Shell—create the problem, then profit from the chaos.

And here’s the real kicker: this ruling sends the message to corporations like Shell that if they pollute enough, over long enough, they’ll make it impossible for anyone to hold them accountable. Yes, you heard that right. Pollute with consistency and you might just wiggle out of any consequences. Way to go, legal system!

As Global Justice Now’s Izzie McIntosh puts it: “UK-based corporations with substandard operations in the global south are enabled to rake in billions while allegedly wreaking horrific devastation on people’s lives and homes.” But sure, Shell, let’s hear more about your commitment to sustainability.

So here we are, with 13,000 people left to wonder how a company that destroyed their environment could manage to turn their fight for survival into an endless game of legal limbo. If Shell gets away with this, it’s a chilling signal to all global polluters: wreck the planet, confuse the victims, and watch them drown in paperwork. Welcome to the future of corporate accountability—or, more accurately, the lack of it.

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