PRESS RELEASE
CHEVRON PARTNERS WITH THE ENVIRONMENT
Chevron Nigeria has stepped up its partnership with the environment. Since 1972 when WED
was inaugurated by the United Nations General Assembly in Stockholm, Sweden, different
themes have been chosen to mark each year and create awareness on critical issues on
biodiversity. This year’s theme – Think, Eat, Save has been chosen to raise global awareness
on depleting natural resources for food and energy in spite of the world population which is
growing geometrically. The 2013 theme is apt as it builds on the global campaign of the same
title launched earlier this year by UNEP, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and
partners, to reduce food waste and loss. It strongly emphasizes the importance of protecting
our planet and promotes an understanding that each individuals as well as organizations can
play significant and effective roles in tackling environmental issues.
Globally, the issue of environmental conservation is topical. It affects the social and
economic lives of peoples and nations and also forms a major focus area in public discourses.
Among others, the issues of deforestation, spills, water and air pollution, global warming
have been of serious concern to stakeholders including the Government, nongovernmental
organizations, communities and corporate organizations.
As it is worldwide, so it is in Nigeria. The growing concern for the environment has remained
a major challenge to the country. Moreover, the level of consciousness about the environment
has increased over the years as stakeholders are increasingly recognizing the importance of
according the issues of the environment and sustainability their rightful place in national
development.
At the forefront of the environmental conservation effort in Nigeria is the Nigerian
Conservation Foundation (NCF), a non-governmental organization which was established in
1980 and formally registered as a charitable trust (No. 1917) in 1982.
For over two decades, NCF has collaborated with Chevron Nigeria Limited and other
partners to promote nature conservation and environmental protection. Today, the
organization is the nation’s leader and the institutional symbol for the promotion of nature
conservation and environmental protection. It has through her conservation projects
maintained a nature conservation standard with unrivalled competence. Her ability to localize
global conservation efforts with adequate attention to local peculiarities is evident in the
needs of inhabitants that are being met on a daily basis in its multiple project sites across the
country.
Founded by Late Chief S.L Edu, the Patron of the NCF is the President and Commander-inChief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Other governing structures are
the Trusteeship Council, the National Executive Council, Council committees, and the
Secretariat.
NCF track records cut across conservation education, biodiversity surveys and species
identification, policy advocacy, habitat identification and protection, research, internship for
college graduates, media sensitization and fundraising, advocacy for rare species
conservation, fight against environmental pollution and poverty reduction.
NCF partners with organizations in and outside Nigeria. Among its international partners are
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Birdlife International, International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Fauna and Flora International and the Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds (RSPB). Locally, it forges strong partnerships with other environmental
NGOs, government institutions, the business community, the academia, students, and ruralurban communities with the aim of building and sustaining a more lasting union to safeguard
the environment.
NCF’s partnerships with the business community have provided much needed funds for
sustainability in environmental management and conservation. Its thinking is that companies
should include concerns about environmental impact in their corporate strategy. This is not a
new view in that most social analysts now insist that businesses could no longer be driven
purely by profits without considering the environment and society around them.
Perhaps the most significant and sustainable partnership for NCF has been the one with
Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL). CNL has continued to demonstrate high commitment to the
environment. The company claimed on its website that as part of its Chevron Way™,
protecting the earth's natural resources is as important to it as providing the energy sources
so essential to improving people’s quality of life.
As a global company, Chevron conducts business anywhere in the world with sound
environmental management that supports sustainable development objective. In line with this,
the company has in place a company-wide health, environment and safety guideline to ensure
that its performance is world-class. In Nigeria, CNL’s Operational Excellence obliges it to
deliver industry-leading performance in process safety, personal safety and health,
environment, reliability and efficiency to achieve world-class performance.
Nature Conservation and Education
CNL’s commitment to preserving the environment has left enduring landmarks in the
landscape, including the Lekki Conservation Centre (LCC) -a centre of excellence in
environmental research and education reserved as a sanctuary for the rich flora and fauna of
the Lekki Peninsula. This 78-hectare facility is the only one of such facilities in the Lagos
area and was established by CNL in partnership with the Nigerian Conservation Foundation
(NCF). This nature reserve traverses a mosaic of vegetation types, namely: secondary forest,
swamp forest and Savannah grassland. One notably impact of conserving the Lekki
Conservation Centre land area over the years is the significant growth of the secondary forest
since the Centre was acquired.
According to Emmannuel Obot, late Executive Director of NCF, no fewer than 1 million
students have visited the LCC in the last 20 years. The Centre has played significant roles in
climate change mitigation and contributed to global biodiversity conservation efforts. It has
also pioneered successful natural resources management in the Lekki area of Lagos. “The
challenge remains daunting but we cannot afford to give up. The successes of the past are
encouraging but not enough to make us complacent. This is the message we have preached in
this Centre for twenty years, and we thank Chevron Nigeria Limited for believing in the
Centre’s capacity to spread the message”, Obot said at a press briefing during the 20th
anniversary of the LCC.
In 2005, CNL established a yearly postgraduate research scholarship for PhD students in
environment and conservation. In addition, CNL hosts the annual S. L. Edu Memorial
Lecture to promote environmental management awareness. The company is also working
with the NCF to establish the Niger Delta Conservation Centre.
(Let’s get a quite from the current Acting Director if at all possible)
In commemoration of the World Environment Day, Mr. Andrew Fawthrop,
Chairman/Managing Director, Chevron Nigeria Limited reiterated the company’s
commitment to the responsible treatment of the environment as a condition for doing
business anywhere adding that the long term partnership between the company and the NCF
is a clear demonstration of that commitment.
“We have a record of responsible environmental stewardship everywhere we operate and
have also established enduring partnerships with governments, non–governmental
organizations, business organizations and communities. These partnerships and efforts have
been recognized and rewarded within and outside the country,” he said.
Beyond the support for NCF, CNL engages in other activities to ensure that it remains a good
steward of the environment.
Assessment of Environmental, Social and Health Impacts
CNL has developed and is implementing processes to identify, assesses, mitigate and manage
potentially significant risk and impacts to human health and the environment (including
natural resources) associated with existing operations and capital projects, including
emissions, releases and wastes. The company effectively engages its stakeholders ensuring
that its projects and proposals are acceptable to all.
Zero-flare
In response to global initiatives against climate change, CNL has developed and is
implementing strategy toward eliminating flared gas. The strategy, including the threephased Escravos Gas Project (EGP), the Escravos Gas-to-Liquids project (EGTL) and the
West African Gas Pipeline project (WAGP), are all aimed at ending routine gas flaring in its
operations, while delivering other important values for Nigeria, NNPC, and for CNL. The
Agbami project was also developed with zero flare.
Towards Spill-Free Operations
CNL has upgraded all its production facilities to ensure that they maintain their high level of
safety and efficiency. This platform upgrade project modernized the older installations to
bring them to the highest international safety standards. The gains from the upgrade include
cleaner effluent discharge from the production platforms, with performance consistently
surpassing the statutory limits.
The company is rigorously implementing process safety management standards, in addition
to its existing Operational Excellence processes, to ensure that our operating facilities are
always safe, and the new ones are built with high safety consideration that assures zeropossibility for operational spill release.
CNL is a member of the Clean Nigeria Association and the Oil Spill Response Limited
(OSRL) of the United Kingdom, two co-operatives through which members pool resources to
combat spills that cannot be handled by the individual companies. CNL continues to hold a
leadership position in the association.
Old Land Drill Sites
CNL took inventory of its old land drill sites that are not in use and embarked on priority
restoration work to return the sites to their initial states and give the restored sites to their
original owners.
Putting Back: Restoring the Mangrove
CNL has developed, and applied expertise in Mangrove restoration through a combination of
modern afforestation techniques, including natural recovery and direct planting of
mangroves. Chevron commenced the regeneration of the mangrove vegetation with a pilot
scheme involving the planting of mangrove seedlings of different species at three selected
sites along the Abiteye-Escravos right-of-way. Expertise in mangrove restoration was also
transferred to Nigerian Consultants.
Recognitions
The Federal Government, in 1999, acknowledged these efforts when the then Federal
Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) presented the company with its Environmental
Achievement Award. It was the first of such awards in the industry.
Similarly in 2001, the company has also received the Star Merit Award on Environment of
the Nigerian Environmental Society (NES) in recognition of its contributions to the
sustenance of the Nigerian ecology and support for Society’s activities.
In addition, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation has honoured the company with two
awards for Sustained Support for Environmental Excellence and Conservation Leadership
Award in 2002 and 2010 respectively.
In 2006, the Delta state government honored CNL with the Best Oil Company in Oil Spill
Management Practices award while the Environmental Health Officers Registration Council
of Nigeria gave CNL a Corporate Good Environment Health Practice Award for the
company's "commitment to responsible environmental stewardship" in Nigeria.
Beyond the awards, however, is the company’s commitment to remain an industry leader in
protecting people and the environment. In the words of Deji Haastrup, Chevron’s General
Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, “ Environmental conservation is a matter
of common sense and at Chevron we are always willing to collaborate with stakeholders who
are committed to safeguarding the environment”