Archived press release

Shell in court over pakistan park scandal

24 January 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:

• a massive oil spill at the weekend still threatens the Galapagos Island's, one of the most delicate ecosystems in the world;
• and on Monday a panel of UN scientists warned that global climate change is likely to be much more severe than previously feared, mainly as a result of the burning of fossil fuels like oil.

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

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust