Nigeria: Oil spill legislation

 

According to GLOBE International, Senator A. Bukola Saraki, Chair of the Committee on Environment and Ecology of the National Assembly, has introduced a bill to amend the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency Act (NOSDRA) 2006. The amendment seeks to:

• Strengthen the institutional and regulatory capacity of NOSDRA to proactively manage oil spills in a much more robust and effective manner,
• creating a clear and specific regime of penalties and responsibilities for oil spills
• providing a consistent guide and procedure for assessing and accessing compensation for oil spill and other civil liabilities.

With an estimated 13 million -16 million barrels of oil spilled in the Niger Delta over the past 50 years, this legislation would strengthen the governance and penalty system.
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REDD+: Initiative to Prepare National Laws

Senior legislators from Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia and Mexico met to launch the GLOBE Legislator Forest Initiative to develop complementary legislation to prepare the way for efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). During the meeting each group of legislators outlined the current status of their legislation that is relevant to forestry and the drivers of deforestation. Over the next year, GLOBE will work with legislators to identify how legislation could be amended or advanced to provide REDD+ with a stable foundation for success. The legislators involved in this new initiative will report back on their progress at the World Summit of Legislators prior to UNCSD (Rio+20).