A civil society organization, Oilwatch International has advocated a sustained shift from energy generated from fossil fuels to cleaner and renewable energy that envisages the wellbeing of the global environment.

This advocacy to push global energy consumption towards the path of creating a power shift in energy consumption was further amplified during a 3-Day maiden Global Gathering on Climate Change with the theme: ‘Demanding Real Zero Not Net Zero’ organized by Oilwatch International in Port Harcourt.

The global event, which took off on Tuesday, October 19, 2021, will run through to Thursday, October 21, 2021, with men and women from all over the globe in attendance.

Speaking at the event, Oilwatch International Nigerian focal and Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, who aligned with the position of the global gathering, highlighted the urgent need to cause a shift from what he described as “dirty energy” to “clean energy and a power shift to the grassroots”.

He emphasized that the planet does not need us, but rather we need the environment and should be intentional about preserving its integrity, stressing that “oil exploration has never made any country rich,” noting that despite six decades of oil exploration in Nigeria, the country remains impoverished, adding that net-zero carbon emissions are like a subversion of nature, arguing that the world needs to stop using fossil fuels.

“Government and corporations are talking about achieving net-zero carbon emissions, which means, ‘keep emitting the carbon, then you find ways of either capturing the carbon and burning it somewhere or planting some trees to absorb the carbon’. That is what net-zero means.”

“It is as if people are trying to solve global warming by mathematics. But nature does not work that way. The world and Nigeria need to stop the use of fossil fuels. And in fact, nobody or country should go on looking for new oil, gas, or fuel reserves.”

“Scientists have told us that we cannot afford to burn all the known reserves of fossil fuel right now. If not, the world is going to have a temperature that human beings can’t survive on.”

The renown environmentalist averred that discontinuation of incineration of fossil fuels was the way to go in ensuring the environment is protected, especially if human expect to survive on earth in the years to come.

“The real solution is not net-zero, but not continuing to burn fossil fuel. That is the solution, and we have been saying this for many years. Leave the oil in the ground, if we are going to have the possibility of surviving as humans in the world.”

“We are going to have more floods, more desertification, higher temperatures, and water stress, and we are going to lose land because in the Niger Delta, land is already being lost at up to one metre or two metres every year on the coastal lane. And many states are also losing lands to desertification. So, it is more crises unless something real is done.

“The Niger Delta presents a platform for job creation. If the government decides to clean up the entire Niger Delta, it will create employment for all youths in this country to do cleanup. That could even boost the economy. And then we will have a clean environment to farm on and fish in and be healthy. A healthy population is a healthy economy.”

Also speaking, National Coordinator of Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE), Enteng Baustista, advocated that fossil fuel should remain underground for the good of the planet given the inherent implications of extracting such and the increasing understanding of the negative effects fossil fuels have on the environment.

In a paper presentation at the gathering, South African born environmentalist and Director of Earthlife Africa, Makoma Lekalakala, harped on need for pro-earth and pro-environment voice not to be hushed and strong synergy among advocacy groups, noting that “our voices should be heard and so we should continue to speak in one voice, for we are nature and nature is us”.

Delivering a paper on ‘Demystifying Net Zero’, Dean, Faculty of Global Environmental Politics, College of Atlantic, Doreen Stabinsky informed that global oil giant, Shell targets to become a net zero emissions energy business by 2050, noting that net zero erases history and responsibility, stressing that “we need to shift the frame and stop offset. Offsets are not the answers to the many rising problems of global climate change”.

There was a consensus among participants in demanding zero oil exploration in the Niger Delta region, just as they bemoaned the destruction of biodiversity in the region while calling on the Federal Government to immediately stop the expansion of fossil fuel extraction.

They also fingered incessant rainfall and flooding in the region as one of the effects of climate change caused by oil exploration.

Oilwatch International is a network of resistance to the impacts of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) industries on people’s and their environments. Its creation was inspired by the need to develop global strategies for the communities affected by oil activities, support their resistance processes, and work for sustainability and collective rights.