Gas Flaring and Low Carbon Development: a Comparative Analysis of Nigeria, UK and Alberta
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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2019-04-25 Gas Flaring and Low Carbon Development: A Comparative Analysis of Nigeria, UK and Alberta Mene, Boritsefere Elizabeth Mene, B. E. (2019). Gas flaring and low carbon development: A comparative analysis of Nigeria, UK and Alberta (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/110232 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Gas Flaring and Low Carbon Development: A Comparative Analysis of Nigeria, Uk and Alberta by Boritsefere Elizabeth Mene A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF LAWS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN LAW CALGARY, ALBERTA APRIL, 2019 © Boritsefere Elizabeth Mene 2019 Abstract I bet if the environment could talk, it would have many things to say. If the environment could challenge certain actions by humankind on its person, everyone would have an earful. Sadly, the environment has no voice; it relies on environmental activists to tell its story and save it, or at least what remains of it. In this research, I tell a tale of gas flaring stemming from upstream oil and gas production in Nigeria. This comparative study analyses gas flaring in Nigerian upstream oil and gas industry as a hindrance to low carbon development, and the reasons why the 43 years efforts to phase out gas flaring are unsuccessful. It argues that if there is no address of the five obstacles to phasing out gas flaring that it discusses, Nigeria would never meet its year 2030 commitment of phasing out gas flaring which it declares in its NDC in the Paris Agreement. It uses two jurisdictions, the UK and Alberta, as comparators in determining how two other oil-producing jurisdictions address the gas flaring problems Nigeria faces in its oil and gas industry. It uses the theory of environmental ethics as a basis for the need for environmental protection and accountability in the oil and gas industry. ii Acknowledgements First, I thank the Almighty God who has made the completion of my studies a reality. True, I have slipped in my service bargain, but he has been nothing but faithful. I thank my supervisor, Prof. Alastair Lucas for his patience, support and dedication in the writing of this thesis. I want to thank my co-supervisor, Prof. Fenner Stewart for his encouragement and kind support in the timeous reading of my never-ending drafts. Without Professors Lucas and Stewart, this thesis would be nothing but a figment of my imagination till this day. I would also like to thank Prof. Mascher for her suggestions and contributions to this work. I thank the Director of Graduate Studies, Prof. Greg Hagen, Eunice Wong, the Bennett Jones Law Library team including Nadine Hoffman, Erin Storey, Sara Klein and Kim Clarke for listening to my endless questions. I thank the Faculty of Law Graduate Program for providing me with funding for this research. I am grateful to my Uncle Anthony Amoman ―for that great deed‖ which kick-started my research. I am grateful to my ―sister one‖ Mrs. Elsie David (nee Mene), and ―sister two‖ Amaju Mene for never ceasing to believe in me. I thank my best friend, Choice Ubangha and also my childhood friend and drive, Francis Okwulu for his loyalty over the years. Finally, I cannot forget to acknowledge my colleagues and good friends in the graduate program, Francesca Ugbaja, Sally Onuorah, Eseoghene Olori and Vivian Nwankwo, for their kind support. I wish God‘s blessings on every one of you. iii Dedication I dedicate this thesis to the Loving Memory of my Maternal Grandmother, Madam Ayonjuwe Meruya, the loving memory of her only child and the mother I never knew, Mrs. Utieyien Elizabeth Mene and my father, Dn. Albert Ayiroritsegbemi Mene for playing the role of a father and mother so well. Indeed, I remember the younger me, a bright-eyed chatterbox asking you so many questions about the ―big ball of fire‖ which you would later identify as a gas flare site, while we drove past the shell gas flare site in Sapele, Delta State, over two decades ago. You took out time to painstakingly explain what a gas flare is, its implications and that the flare in question had been burning for decades. Although it is sad that the gas flaring site in question still burns till this very day, I am hopeful that you would be proud that I have finally lent my voice to the campaign against gas flaring in Nigeria, through academic research. iv Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... iii Dedication ..................................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................v Chapter One: Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 1.1 The Importance of Natural Gas ............................................................................................1 1.2 Gas Flaring at a General Glance ..........................................................................................1 1.3 Statement of the Problem: Gas Flaring in the Oil and Gas Industry .....................................2 1.4 The Negative Impacts of Gas Flaring ...................................................................................3 1.5 The Outcry against Gas Flaring in Nigeria ...........................................................................5 1.6 Low Carbon Development (LCD) .......................................................................................6 1.6.1 LCD and the UNFCCC ..............................................................................................7 1.6.2 Nigeria’s Involvement with the UNFCCC .................................................................8 1.7 Research Problem................................................................................................................10 1.8 Research Question ...............................................................................................................14 1.9 Research Methodology........................................................................................................15 1.9.1 Literature Review ......................................................................................................15 1.9.2 Doctrinal Research ...................................................................................................16 1.9.3 Comparative Approach .............................................................................................17 1.9.3.1 Normative Approach ..................................................................................18 1.9.3.2 Functional Approach .................................................................................18 1.10 Reasons for Choice of Comparative Jurisdictions ............................................................19 1.11 Scope of the Thesis ..........................................................................................................20 1.12 Thesis Structure .................................................................................................................21 v 1.13 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................23 Chapter Two: An Assessment of the International Climate Change Regime in its Relationship to Low Carbon Development and Gas Flaring ..........................................................26 2.1 Introduction .........................................................................................................................26 2.2 An Overview of Environmental Protection ........................................................................26 2.3 Environmental Ethics as a Branch of Environmental Philosophy .....................................27 2.3.1 Branches of Environmental Ethics............................................................................30 2.3.1.1 Ecocentrism............................................................................................................30 2.4 Environmental Ethics‘ Approach to Environmental Protection .........................................32 2.4.1 The Environmental Ethics Approach of Sustainability .............................................32 2.4.1.1 Conservation as a Tool of the Principle of Sustainability .........................37 2.4.2 Prescriptive Regulation or “Command and Control Approach” .............................39 2.4.3 The Market-Based Approach to Natural Resources Conservation ..........................39 2.4.3.1 Price-Based MBI-Carbon Pricing .............................................................40 2.4.3.2