Home > Press releases > 2001
24 Jan 2001
Environmentalists
in Pakistan are taking Shell, the giant oil multinational, to court [1] in Karachi
today (Wednesday 24) over its plans to drill for oil in one of most beautiful
and precious areas of Pakistan [2]. Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment,
one of the local green organisations behind the court case, today called on
“investors with money in Shell to ask this company how it can defend
its actions.” Friends of the Earth, which has branded the plans as
“scandalous”,will launch a major campaign against Shell in
the UK .
Kirthar National Park was established in 1974 to protect endangered wildlife
including the unique Sindh ibex, desert wolves, leopards, striped hyena, rare
wild sheep and imperial eagle. Covering more than 740,000 acres of forests and
valleys 80 miles north-west of Karachi, it is essential to the water supply
of the city's 14 million people. The park also contains Rannikot Fort, one of
the world's oldest, which dates back to 3500 BC.
Kirthar Park is internationally listed and supposed to be protected by law.
But just last weekend, the Governor of Sindh province, Mohammed Mian Soomro
- a director of Shell-Pakistan until he became governor last year - amended
the local wildlife laws to allow pipeline construction in the park. Final permission
for drilling will have to be granted by Pakistan's Federal oil minister, Usman
Aminuddin. He is a former executive of a Shell subsidiary, Burshane.
The controversy will tarnish the clean image that Shell has been trying to
create over recent years.In its recent glossy brochure “People, Planet
and Profits”, Mark Moody-Stuart, Shell's chair wrote"My
colleagues and I are totally committed to a business strategy that generates
profits while contributing to the well-being of the planet and its people. We
see no alternative."
Despite this Shell still continues to open new oil and gas reserves in sensitive
areas. And in many cases, including Dureji wildlife santuary in Pakistan, local
environmentalists have raised concerns about damage to precious ecosystems.
The damaging impact of the oil industry has been dramatically illustrated over
recent days:
Friends of the Earth believes that Shell should invest far more of its vast
wealth in long-term solutions to environmental problems, such as wind, solar
and wave power. This year, FOE will be mobilising the public to take up the
issue with Shell investors such as pension funds and banks to address the oil
companies shortcomings.
Farhan Anwar, an Executive Member of Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment,
a local environmental NGO in Pakistan said:
"We have already seen the damage that Shell's activities can have on
wildlife, such as at Dureji Wildlife Sanctuary. We find it quite outrageous
that they are now planning to plunder one of our most precious national parks
- in Kirthar - home to some of our most endangered species. Shell's project
is illegal. Our law clearly prohibits any kind of mining or exploration activity
in these areas. But now this massive corporation is using its influence, and
contacts with ex-Shell employees now in Government, to trash our wildlife laws.
We call on British investors with money in Shell to ask this company how it
can defend its actions".
Craig Bennett, Habitats campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:
“Shell claims that it cares about poor people and the environment,
yet its massive profits are being used to open up and plunder some of the world's
most precious and sensitive areas. This scandalous project must not go ahead.
Shell should also listen to the dire warning issued this week by UN scientists
on the threat of global climate change. The main cause is the burning of fossil
fuels. Shell should invest more of its massive profits in renewable energy such
as wind and solar power. If it doesn't, then its claims to care about the planet
and its people will be nothing but hot air.
We will be working with local campaigners in Pakistan to fight this project.
We want the public, banks and pension funds to challenge Shell to stop putting
profits before people and the planet".
EDITOR'S NOTES:
[1] Nine environmental organisations have petitioned
the Sindh High Court, noting that mineral and gas exploration inside the national
park is illegal under the Sindh Wildlife Protection Ordinance. The first date
for the hearing (January 4th) was postponed because Shell complained
that it was “not ready”.
[2] Since 1998, Shell has been involved in exploration
in Dureji Wildlife Sanctuary in the Pakistan province of Baluchistan - an area
important for Sindh ibex and rare mountain sheep. Local environmentalists claim
that access roads built for heavy machinery have damaged the delicate mountain
environment, increased erosion and increased access for poachers. They say that
the seismic testing has also caused disturbance to wildlife populations, and
that one rig was constructed in Hamilag range right in the heart of a sensitive
zone - against the recommendations of the Environmental Impact Assessment.Dureji
was recently downgraded from a Wildlife Sanctuary to a Game Reserve, as a result
of the damage.
Photo's of Kirthar National Park available from FOE
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html
Media team
