Policy Alert, an organisation focused on improving economic development and environmental justice, has raised alarm on the impacts of methane emission on extractive communities in the Niger Delta region.

The organisation noted that the region, over the years, has become a theatre of environmental degradation and economic deprivation for its inhabitants.

According to them, the development was a result of the failure of corporations to adhere to global standards for resource extraction, as practiced elsewhere in the world.

Accordingly, Policy Alert, in collaboration with the Natural Resource Governance Institute and We The People, organised a sensitisation programme for community leaders, rights activists, and the media on the impacts of methane emissions and actions towards its reduction.

The programme, which was held in Port Harcourt, featured presentations from various experts, including environmentalists, government officials, and community representatives from across the states in the region.

Speaking with newsmen at the event, the Executive Director of Policy Alert, Mr. Tijah Bolton-Akpan, said the workshop was organised to build the capacity of community members to work towards implementing actions to reduce methane emissions in their communities.

He berated the government’s reluctance to give priority attention to the challenge.

He said, “The government, on their part, has not been keen on enforcing regulatory principles and frameworks, and that has also led to huge impacts for communities—ecological impacts, social impacts, and economic impacts.”

He noted that one of the most criminal of these practices is actually gas flaring, venting, and leakages—emissions that are called fixed emissions, including both leakages and equipment failures. Now, when those things happen, they release a lot of poisonous gases into the atmosphere. CO2 is a common one we know, which is highly responsible for climate change.

Akpan explained that methane is one of the major causes of climate change, which is less known by the public, especially by the communities impacted by it. “So, we want the communities to come up to speed on the impact of methane emissions on their lives—whether on their social lives, their economic livelihoods, or their health.

He added, “We have a lot of cancer cases, a lot of respiratory disorders in our communities, and a lot of reproductive disorders, and these have been linked to the poisonous gases that they inhale.”

He said the workshop aimed to ensure that community members are aware and able to take action and engage in advocacy from a point of knowledge, using current data.

“For instance, we have gas flare data that shows how much from each oil facility is being flared. You can pinpoint from that how much methane is coming out from a particular asset area and then tie it to some of the happenings within these communities. You can also begin to measure that and juxtapose it with the economic benefits that these communities are getting,” Akpan added.

He, however, said that in order to address the challenges of methane emission, the government must enforce the implementation of the legal frameworks regulating the activities of the extractive sector. “Yes, there are gaps in the laws, but even the existing framework is not being implemented. They are so weakly enforced that sometimes you wonder whether we have a government at all.”

In her presentation, a Senior Officer with the Natural Resource Governance Institute, Nengi George-Okoli, said, “We came here today to ensure that decisions being made are also incorporating best practices and policies that minimise the impacts on the health and environmental risks that leveraging gas can have on communities in terms of their livelihoods.”

She regretted that Nigeria has a lot of laws and policies but lacks proper regulations, saying, “Until we can understand where we are coming from, we cannot say where we are going or measure the progress we need. So that’s one thing I think will be very important to help the fight against methane emissions.”