ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION AND OIL SPILLAGES: AN INDICTMENT TO HUMAN RIGHT AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION AND OIL SPILLAGES: AN INDICTMENT TO HUMAN RIGHT AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page – – – – – – i
Certification – – – – – – ii
Approval – – – – – – iii
Dedication – – – – – – iv
Acknowledgement – – – – – – v
Table of Contents – – – – – – viii
Table of Statutes – – – – – – x
Table of Cases – – – – – – xii
Abbreviations – – – – – – xiii
CHAPTER ONE:
Introduction 1
What is Environmental Degradation 2
The Emergence of Environmental Degradation 7
Classifications of Environmental Degradation 16
Notable forms of Environmental Degradation 19
Challenges posed by Environmental Degradation 24
CHAPTER TWO:
Human and Environmental Right or
Law Concept 32
The Human Rights Concept 32
The Environmental Right Concept 35
The Nigeria Constitution, Human and
Environmental Rights 37
The Impediments confronting judicial enforcement
of Environmental Laws in Nigeria. 45

CHAPTER THREE:
Environmental Degradation as an
Indictment to Human Right and
Environmental law
3.1 An Appraisal 53

3.2 Environmental Degradation as Indictment or
Violation of Human Right 54

Environmental Degradation as Indictment to
Environmental Right in Nigeria 65

Environmental Degradation as an Indictment to
International Environmental Legal Instruments 73

CHAPTER FOUR:
Global Efforts at combating
Environmental Degradation

An Appraisal 78
Environmental Degradation as an indictment to
Environmental law in U.K. and U.S.A. 79

Global inability to enforce Laws against
Environmental Degradation 83

The Industrialized countries as Violators/Culprits
Of Environmental Degradation 93

International Agency/Co-operations in combating
Environmental Degradation. 95

CHAPTER FIVE:
Conclusion and Recommendations

Conclusion 100
Recommendations 103

Bibliography 110

TABLE OF STATUTES

Associated Gas Re-injection Act, Cap 26, LFN 1990 40, 48, 65, 67

Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. 38, 39, 47, 55-60, 62-65, 104

Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by
Dumping of waste and other matters 1992 73, 86

U.N. Convention on the High Sea, 1958 74, 86

Environmental Impact Assessment Act, 1992 40, 43-45,48, 69-72

European Environmental Agency (EEA), 1994 97,98

Federal Water Pollution Control Act 1972, U.S.A. 79

Harmful Waste (Special Criminal Provisions) Act
Cap 165, LFN, 1990 40, 41, 48, 68

International Convention for the Prevention of
Pollution of the Sea by Oil 1954 (as amended in
1962 & 1969. 74, 87

Kyoto Protocol, 1997 89, 93

Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the
Ozone Layer, 1992. 75, 88

National Environmental Standards and Regulations 35, 36, 48, 49,
Enforcement Agency (Establishment) Act 2007 51,52,65,66,101,103

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 1969 USA 80

Navigable oil-in-water cap 337, LFN 1990 40, 48, 65, 74

Human Environment Conference Stockholm 78, 85, 95
UK Environmental Protection Act 81, 82

Vienna Convention on Protection
Ozone Layer, 1985. 75, 88
case table

Adisa vs Oin Rola (2002) 10 WRN 125 – – 38

Amos v Shell BP Petroleum Development Co.
From Nigeria and Anole. – – – 50

With Archbishop Orbunmi Okogye
other v AG Lagos State. – – – 47

Enahoro and Orus. V. Avacha and Orus. (1998) 1
HRL RA 424 – – – – 33, 34

Donahue V. Stevenson (1932) AC 562 – – 82

Francis Coralie vs Delhi Federal Territory
Air 1981 SC 846. – – – 107

Ransom Kuti and Orus. v. AG Federal Government
and Orus. (1985) 2 NWLR, 16, 211 at 230 – – 32

Shanti Starbuilders vs Nafian Wimal Totame
& ors. (1990) (1) SC 106 Appeal No. 2598 of 1989-108.
Abbreviations

chapter One
Foreword

Since the dawn of civilization, man has always been driven by the need to advance by exploring the natural environment and improve the lives of those around him. It cannot be denied that the natural environment provided residents and the general public with unlimited opportunities for development and economic survival before environmental degradation began, but with the advent of environmental degradation, residents are denied these opportunities and live miserable lives. I’m going to suffer from. poverty.
Recognizing the dangers of environmental destruction, the international community and the Nigerian government have enacted various environmental destruction laws (international legal instruments). improved sustainability. The unruly attitude of those involved in environmental destruction continues to undermine environmental law, and governments and their agencies are indirectly complicit in environmental law violations.
Unfortunately, existing legal mechanisms do little or nothing to address this threat of environmental degradation. Environmental degradation continues everywhere every day, and there is no end in sight as to how this crime can be controlled.
This paper is therefore intended to assess how environmental degradation is an indictment of human rights and environmental law. It is also intended to serve as a theoretical framework for reviewing and harmonizing relevant municipal and legal instruments. Likewise, international organizations/companies fighting environmental destruction are not left behind.
It is therefore essential to provide a simple description or definition of environmental degradation. Environmental destruction
Before thinking about environmental degradation, we must first know what the environment is and what constitutes it.
The environment is the natural world in which people, animals and plants live. Black’s Law Dictionary defines it as the holistic set of factors that surround and influence the physical, economic, cultural, aesthetic, social conditions, and value of property, and also affect people’s quality of life. Under Nigerian law, “environment” includes water, air, land, and the plants and humans or animals that inhabit them, and the interrelationships between any of these and/or any of them. Environmental degradation is therefore the deterioration of the environment due to the depletion of resources such as air, water and soil. Ecosystem destruction and wildlife extinction. Environmental damage is one of the 10 threats officially warned by the United Nations High-Level Threat Panel. Therefore, the importance and relevance of the environment cannot be overstated. The environment is a complex and delicate system which, when properly managed and utilized, can be directed to productive domestic, aesthetic and even spiritual benefits, but can only be dangerous when poorly managed. Not just for human survival, but for the survival of all living things. From this we can conclude that the environment is the basis of survival.
Unfortunately, however, the environment has been seriously threatened over the years by adverse and devastating effects on human habitation and survival, as reflected in a World Bank report. Every day, more than 30,000 people around the world die before the end of their expected lifespan due to environmental degradation and pollution. Every year, 108 million people die as a result of environmental degradation and pollution. According to further research, in the 19 years from 1990 to 2009, about 7.3 million people worldwide died from environmental degradation and pollution. It therefore poses a threat to the survival of humanity and must be controlled by all nations and organizations within