Reflecting on the Petroleum Local Content Conference on World Environment Day

Today being World Environment Day, I am inspired to reflect on the discussions and insights shared at the 2023 Local Content Conference. It was an honor to present alongside distinguished professionals and engage with a diverse set of participants from Tullow Oil 贝克休斯 Eni Energies et Services Shell Energy TotalEnergies MODEC .

In my presentation, i emphasized the critical importance of integrating social justice into the energy sectors’ localization and sustainability efforts. Across Africa, the optics of Climate Change reflect profound social justice challenges. I recall Prof. Agnes Apusigah once noting that Poverty in Africa is more of a human rights issue! She is right. I extend it further to environmental regulatory gaps. With the least responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions, host communities continue to bear the brunt of corporate-induced climate change impacts. Saying that “addressing these injustices is essential for a sustainable and equitable future” is now an uninspiring hackney.

Exploring the regulatory landscape across Europe, and the global south, there are significant developments and contrasts. I admire the fact that despite Brexit, EU ESG regulations continue to exert influence on UK energy firms. The EU Renewable Energy Directive, the EU Emissions Trading System, and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) are noteworthy and aspirational. They signal measured capacities to reduce carbon emissions and ensure producer responsibility.

In contrast, regulatory capacities in the global south appear less nuanced. The reasons for this could be multidimensional. Of note however is that while the EU champions stringent standards and compliance through frameworks like the Renewable Energy Directive and the Emissions Trading System to drive mitigation, the absence of comparable policies in the south underscores the urgent need for equitable environmental governance on a global scale. The presence of adverse political, and bureaucratic incentives in Africa should not deter global leaders, and Northern energy companies operating in the global south from fulfilling their vital social and environmental obligations.

COVID-19 has taught us vital lessons about the imperative of global solidarity in addressing emergencies. We have reached the point of an ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCY! Environmental fidelity anywhere impacts everyone and vice versa! This understanding must inform the imperative for corporate and public sector peer learning mechanisms in environmental governance and compliance in the global south too.

I cannot end my day without acknowledging the grace and resilience of Mia Amor Mottley he Premier of Barbados who has been unflinching in romanticizing global conscience on environmental governance. I join her push for stronger climate finance mechanisms, depoliticized sustainability reporting standards, and compliance with the Kyoto Protocol and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Our collective will pave the way for a more equitable and resilient environment.

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