The Executive Director of Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), David Ugolor, who is also the convener of PAGM, in a statement, urged the Church to respect the agreement reached during CoP27 meeting on climate change.
He stated that the church has a responsibility to help in the correction of injustices suffered by communities in the Niger Delta when it invested in oil companies operating in Nigeria.
Ugolor stressed that companies and their investors, as well as governments from the global north, must contribute to paying loss and damage to affected communities in line with the understanding reached at COP27.
Ugolor said: “The Church must consider communities in the Niger Delta, which do not have the luxury of moving on from the devastation and environmental degradation as a result of oil exploration, and urged the Church to find ways to support their quest for justice.”
While commending the Church for planned disinvestment from Shell Petroleum and others, he expressed delight that the Church has kept its commitment to divest from companies that do not align with the Paris agreement, saying the move has put the church on the people’s side.
The National Coordinator of Publish What You Pay, Nigeria, and co-chair of the PAGM platform, Taiwo Otitolaye, advised other big investors in oil and gas companies, such as the Norges Bank Investment Management, Vanguard, Blackrock, Legal and General Investment management, as well as others, to follow example of the Church of England Pensions Board to save the world from imminent climate catastrophe.
Otitolaye said they are happy to see the result of the protest, embarked upon by PAGM at its inaugural meeting, convened by ANEEJ and PWYP at Shell’s office, Lagos, in May 2022, which sent a letter to the Church of England’s Headquarters in London, demanding the Church’s divestment from Shell.
