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Centre for Oil Pollution Watch (COPW) Vs NNPC (2018) Supreme Court of Nigeria - decision

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On May 13, 2005, the Centre for Oil Pollution Watch (COPW) commenced legal action against the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The NNPC was established by an Act of Parliament and carries on business of prospecting, mining, producing, exploring and storing persistent hydrocarbon mineral oil such as crude oil. It has offices, oil installations, oil pipelines, oil rigs and so on in different parts of Nigeria The case was brought in the Federal High Court, Lagos Division, over an oil spillage in ACHA Community of Abia State of Nigeria. The oil spillage was allegedly caused by the defendant’s negligence resulting from its pipeline, which had corroded due to lack of maintenance, had ruptured, fractured and spewed its entire Contents of persistent hydrocarbon mineral oil into surrounding streams and river of lneh/Aku, resulting in contaminating two community streams that were the major sources of water supply to the community. The plaintiff alleged that although the defendant contained the spillage on the surface, it failed to clean up or reinstate the Ineh/Aku streams/river. Furthermore, the plaintiff averred that the respondent was negligent in both the causation and containment of the oil spillage; that the spillage had harmful effect on living resources, marine life, human health and other usage of the streams. 

The respondent challenged the plaintiff’s standing to sue and sought an order striking the suit. On February 9, 2006, the trial court struck out the suit for lack of locus having not suffered any injury at all, let alone any injury above every other member of the Acha community resulting from the alleged oil spillage. On January 28, 20013, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal by reaffirming the trial court’s ruling. The plaintiffs appealed to the Supreme Court on March 9, 2013. On July 20, 2018, the Supreme Court unanimously granted the appeal in favor of the appellant.

The Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) held:
1.	That the appellant NGO had the standing to sue the respondent, thereby liberalizing or broadening the rule of standing. The Supreme Court specifically highlighted “that public spirited individuals and organizations can bring an action in courts against relevant public authorities and private entities to demand their compliance with relevant laws and to ensure the remediation, restoration and protection of the environment.”
2.	The Supreme Court further clarified that “Accordingly, every person, including NGOs, who bonafide seek the due performance of statutory functions or enforcement of statutory provisions or public laws, especially laws designed to protect human lives, public health and the environment, should be regarded as proper persons clothed with standing in law to request adjudication on such issues of public nuisance.”
3.	The Supreme Court also acknowledged that recognizing public interest litigation will help address some other barriers to access to justice, as poor communities without “the financial muscle to sue” which usually and disproportionately bear the brunt of environmental and climate change problems, will have the benefit of public spirited persons and organizations fighting their cause.
4.	The Supreme Court noted particularly, for the first time, that: “there is no gain saying in the fact that there is increasing concern about climate change, depletion of the ozone layer, waste management, flooding and global warming etc… Both nationally and internationally, countries and organizations are adopting stronger measures to protect and safeguard the environment for the benefits of the present and future … it is on account of this, inter alia, that I am of the firm view that this court, being a court of policy should expand the locus standi of the Plaintiff/Appellant to sue” – Per Aka’ahs, JSC. 
Further, the national resources of earth… “must be protected and conserved for the benefit of present and future generations through careful planning and management as appropriate” – Per Eko, JSC.
5.	The Supreme Court also made significant strides in ‘greening’ the Nigerian Constitution and confirming the existence and enforceability of environmental human rights in Nigeria, in a manner that increases the possibility of successful climate change litigation in the country, especially by allowing public interest litigation. First, the Supreme Court held that Section 20 of the Nigerian Constitution on duty to protect the environment by the State is justiciable when read together with, and in the context of, a provision like section 4(2) of the Constitution, on the power to make laws to give effect to section 20. Second, the Supreme Court explicitly recognized for the first time, that section 33 of the Constitution which guarantees the Right to Life, implicitly includes and constitutes a fundamental rights to a clean and healthy environment for all. Third, the Supreme Court explicitly affirmed the enforceability of the environmental right in Article 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights as domesticated in Nigeria by the African Charter Act, Cap. A9 LFN 2004.

6.	Finally, the Supreme Court decision in the above case aligns with the Constitutional Human Rights approach to Environmental and Climate Protection taken earlier by the Lower Court/Federal High Court in Jonah Gbemre vs Shell and others. It demonstrates a significant positive paradigm shift in the attitude of the Supreme Court to environmental and climate change related claims. It provides additional human rights and constitutional tools for potential climate litigation in Nigeria.

Centre for Oil Pollution Watch (COPW) Vs NNPC (2018) Supreme Court of Nigeria

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

Using laws and the legal system more broadly to protect vulnerable entities

An integrated system of hazard monitoring, forecasting and prediction, that enables individuals, communities, governments, businesses and others to take timely action to reduce disaster risks in advance of hazardous events.

Activities involving the catching, processing, and selling of fish for food, recreation, and industry.

Actions to adapt human health, healthcare systems and well-being to climate change.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

This sector involves managing waste treatment, sanitation, pollution control and environmental cleanup.

People who are less able to respond to the effects of climate change due to having limited financial or physical assets

Any substance with chemical properties that can cause physical harm to people or damage the environment, including ammonia, carbon monoxide, phosphine, chlorine, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, pesticides, dioxins, microplastics, benzene, asbestos, aflatoxins, fluoride, methanol, and toxins from marine sources.

Climate change can have a range of impacts on technological system. Extreme weather events can cause infrastructure failures like power outages or damage to roads and bridges, as well as the impacts from waste following natural disasters. Human activities also cause technological impacts, such as the risks posed by oil spillage and leaks.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

A company that is owned wholly or partially by the state, typically operating in key sectors.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

Codes and standards are regulatory instruments that specify minimum standards to protect health and safety. This ranges from performance standards, which prescribe outcomes while allowing flexibility to achieve compliance, to the more prescriptive approach of technology-specific standards.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Centre for Oil Pollution Watch (COPW) Vs NNPC (2018) Supreme Court of Nigeria - decision

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance