Shell and other large corporations: Many of those affected from Africa are now suing in Europe

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UN report on the Niger Delta, where the Shell Group was active: "The residents live with this pollution every day"

Photo: George Osodi / Bloomberg / Getty Images

King Okpabi's voice keeps getting louder.

No, he cannot contain himself in the face of the crimes that are being committed in his kingdom, he yells.

"They polluted our water, they polluted our fields, they destroyed our livelihood," he shouts.

You - that's the Shell oil company.

King Godwin Okpabi is one of the traditional leaders in Ogoniland, a region in the Niger Delta, Nigeria's oil-producing region. Shell withdrew from Ogoniland in 1993 because of safety concerns, but large pipelines still run through the area. For decades there have been leaks due to technical problems or oil theft. What is certain is that oil production has left the worst damage. A UN report from 2011 literally states: "The residents live with this pollution every day."

At that time, the UN auditors found levels of the carcinogenic benzene in drinking water samples that were 900 times higher than the WHO guideline values. They estimated it would take 30 years to repair all damage on site - the cost of which was $ 1 billion. Organizations such as Amnesty International accuse Shell and the Nigerian government of having cleaned up only a fraction of the environmental sins to date.

In the King Okpabis area, the damage is particularly severe, he says. Toxic chemicals would have contaminated the soil. Now the question is who is to blame for it. Because the Dutch-British parent company Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) is not active locally, but the Nigerian branch Shell Petroleum Development Cooperation (SPDC), in which Shell holds 30 percent of the shares. In response to a request from SPIEGEL, the large corporation announced that only SPDC had »the necessary expertise and capacities (...) to respond to the challenges in the Niger Delta«. That means: SPDC is responsible for the consequences of the misery. Shell also cites vandalism and theft as reasons for pipeline leaks.

Shell just wants to outsource responsibility, criticize King Okpabi and his colleagues.

They now want to defend themselves against this, they have brought the corporate giant RDS to court in Great Britain.

With success: the Supreme Court ruled in March 2021

decided that the case could be heard in England.

A glimmer of hope for those affected - because they would have much less chance of success in Nigerian courts.

A similar case from the Niger Delta was negotiated on site for 30 years, most of those affected are now long dead. Shell recently undertook to finally pay compensation.

“We cannot defeat Shell in Nigeria.

In Great Britain, yes.

Shell has to approach us now so that we can finally find a solution.

We have to negotiate how they can compensate us, ”says King Okpabi.

It would not be the first time.

As early as 2015

the oil company has agreed to pay out a total of 65 million euros to affected municipalities.

This out-of-court settlement came just a few weeks before the case was due to go to an English court.

"This is a groundbreaking development," says lawyer Daniel Leader of the law firm Leigh Day. He represented those affected in both cases. “Until recently, you had to file a lawsuit in Africa or Asia, and that often took decades, and not infrequently the cases fizzled out. Now the corporations know that things are getting serious for them in Europe. There are similar groundbreaking cases in other European countries. That is really gaining momentum. "

It could be a paradigm shift.

For decades, large companies in the Global South have been able to do business largely without consequences.

They hid behind outsourced subsidiaries, and when there were legal proceedings on site, it was not uncommon in fragile states in particular to find a back door.

“Corporations were used to making big promises, and that was a good thing.

That is now finally over, «hopes lawyer Daniel Leader.

There are actually some signs of this: In May, a court in the Netherlands ordered Shell to reduce climate-damaging CO₂ emissions by 45 percent - including companies in the Global South.

The British agricultural company Camellia agreed in early 2021 to pay more than five million euros to alleged victims of human rights violations in Kenya as part of an out-of-court settlement.

The victims accuse security guards of a Kenyan subsidiary, among other things, of rape and bodily harm and had initiated legal proceedings in England.

Because the Camellia managers negligently neglected their duty of care and did not prevent the alleged offenses.

“Up until this point, many large corporations in East Africa had just complied with the necessary minimum of sustainability standards.

Now suddenly everyone is having large internal audits carried out to find out what they are doing so problematically and how to stop it, «says lawyer Daniel Leader.

France is a pioneer in holding international corporations accountable. In 2017, as one of the first countries in Europe, it was legally regulated that French companies can be made liable for offenses along the entire supply chain. Several such cases are currently pending, including against a large meat company.

In Germany, on the other hand, the judiciary has so far been very hesitant when it comes to alleged offenses by German corporations abroad.

Several proceedings were unsuccessful, the courts did not have jurisdiction or the allegations were statute-barred.

But here, too, there is hope, says Wolfgang Kaleck, Chair of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights: "Many have now recognized that extraterritorial activities by economic actors in Germany can also be legally punished."

In June, for example, the Bundestag passed a supply chain law that, like in France, is supposed to hold corporations accountable.

However, several non-governmental organizations criticize that there are still large gaps.

And in other countries, too, by far not all such procedures lead to success, as a recent study by the European Coalition for Corporate Justice shows. Of more than 22 investigated court hearings against parent companies in Europe, only two have brought a final judgment in the interests of those affected. Many cases are still pending. The accused companies would often use delaying tactics and fail to provide the necessary evidence, according to the authors.

Lydia de Leeuw from the Dutch non-governmental organization Somo has also observed such tactics.

She looks after and advises victims from Africa and Latin America.

“The laws aren't perfect, but every little legal battle is worth it for those involved.

It helps create a legal system in which human rights come before profits, ”she says.

In any case, King Okpabi from the Niger Delta is confident of victory: »Shell has the most expensive lawyers in England and yet we had our first success.

We will not stop.

If they don't come to an agreement with us, we'll go to court.

We'll win, ”he calls out firmly.

The main hearing is likely to begin in England next year.

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