The Africa Make Big Polluters Pay (MBPP) coalition has demanded immediate action to halt new fossil fuel exploration and phase out existing infrastructure across the continent. In a statement released on Wednesday, the coalition cited this year's World Earth Day theme, "Our Power, Our Planet," to emphasize that the climate crisis is now a present and intensifying emergency. It highlighted impacts such as biodiversity loss, extreme heat, erratic rainfall, rising sea levels, and climate-induced displacement affecting regions from Kenya's forests to Nigeria's grasslands. The coalition stressed that African countries, which contribute the least to global emissions, face disproportionate consequences. It rejected carbon offset markets and green transition schemes that enable continued exploitation of African lands under the guise of climate solutions. The MBPP coalition specifically called for accountability from fossil fuel corporations including Shell, Chevron, and ExxonMobil operating in the Niger Delta, as well as Chinese companies in the Congo. It condemned industrial agriculture, reckless mining, and poorly regulated carbon projects for threatening soil integrity, warning that soils must not be reduced to tradable carbon sinks. The group affirmed that ecosystems should be protected as living systems, not financial instruments, and urged a transition framework that respects ecological sovereignty and community rights.
The MBPP coalition points to Shell, Chevron, and ExxonMobil in the Niger Delta while demanding polluters pay, yet offers no mechanism to enforce this accountability through Nigerian courts or regional bodies. The statement emphasizes community-led governance but does not clarify how affected populations in the Niger Delta will gain legal or financial recourse against these firms. Without naming any Nigerian government agency or legal pathway to action, the call risks remaining symbolic. The burden of enforcement, as always, is left unaddressed.
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