COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AFTER THE OILWATCH AFRICA GENERAL ASSEMBLY HELD BETWEEN THE 11-14TH OF AUGUST 2009 AT MIKLIN HOTEL, ACCRA, GHANA

1.0 Preamble
Civil society groups, community based campaigners, academics, lawyers, the media and individuals from various communities in Africa converged in Accra Ghana, under the auspices of Oilwatch Africa to discuss emerging environmental concerns in Africa such as climate change, the impact of the global economic crisis on the environment and livelihoods and the suppression of dissent and militarization of resource rich communities in Africa. The theme of the meeting was popularizing the of concept of “Keep the Oil in the Soil”

2.0 Opening
In his opening remarks, Chair of Friends of the Earth International and Steering Committee member of Oilwatch International, Rev Nnimmo Bassey said the theme of the consultation was carefully chosen to provide a concrete basis for addressing the multiple crises confronting our civilization. These crises manifest themselves in the form of climate change food crisis, financial crisis, corporate greed and poor political governance. That the existing development paradigm, shaped by neoliberal theories of economic development and driven by an unwholesome dependence on fossil fuels would push the world over the precipice Positions articulated by the various resource persons, experiences shared by our community representatives and practitioners in the field during the plenary as well as in-depth discussions by participants during the group work form the basis of our observations below

3.0 OBSERVATIONS

• The African environment is in danger and requires urgent action to rescue it from the path of grave degradation • The pitiable conditions of oil rich communities who have continued to live in penury inspite of the huge revenues being generated from the exploitation of their areas by African governments and oil transnationals
• That the oil business is intrinsically violent, from the destruction of the forests to lay seismic lines, the forceful displacement of communities, the detonation of explosives to determine the availability of oil and the roaring flames from gas flares and the pollution of communities from oil spill
• That a careful appraisal of world history clearly shows the nexus between oil and the military industrial complex and the numerous wars, that have occurred and are occurring as a consequence; such as in Dafur, Iraq and the Niger Delta of Nigeria.
• It is now generally agreed that the displacement of fossil fuels from where nature intended them to be is the major contributor to the emission of unsustainable amounts of carbon and other green house gases into the atmosphere. This is the leading cause climate change, which is impacting our communities disproportionately.
• That the Kyoto protocol and other mechanisms that have evolved from it such as carbon trade, clean development mechanism etc have failed to address the climate crisis because it is not founded on justice, equity and fairness. Annex 1 countries (industrialized countries) have used the Kyoto process to evade their responsibility to take drastic action to reduce emissions and have instead, foisted on Africa, and the rest of the global south, the added burden of cleaning up their mess.
• In the run up to the conclusion of negotiations on post 2012 climate treaty in Copenhagen annex 1 country have tried to obfuscate the discussions, divide the global south and pass on the responsibility of taking action to address the crisis from which they have benefitted disproportionately. This has eroded the confidence of participants on the success of the negotiations in Copenhagen.
• That oil and gas bearing communities in Africa live in perpetual danger as a result of the unethical practices of oil multinationals. Rather than our governments listening to and addressing the issues of environmental injustice on the continent, they in conjunction with the oil multinationals continue to criminalize our just struggles, repress and militarize our communities to ensure unhindered exploitation of natural resources.
• In the course of our meeting on August 11, 2009 we were informed that AngloGold-Ashanti directed security personnel attached to the company to bury 40 small scale miners, who were scouring for gold at one of the company’s abandoned pits at Tom Collins near Obuasi because they were criminals. It took the pleas of well meaning individuals in the community to forestall the slow and cruel deaths the 40 miners would have suffered
• That the plan to put American booths in the Gulf of Guinea through the instrumentality of AFRICOM would further militarize our communities, besides undermining African sovereignty. Participants also drew attention to the new forms of deceptive military presence in Africa, which would involve American soldiers in full civilian roles such as bridge, schools and hospital builders in Africa.
• There is no doubt that Africa’s environmental problems are worsened by the global financial crisis, this crisis has increased poverty for millions in Africa, drastically reduced revenues for many countries and would result in greater pressure on the environment which in turn further increases the vulnerability of the poor.
• The current neoliberal and Market driven development paradigms have led the world to the brink of collapse and made it incapable of providing a sustainable socio/economic future. This makes it imperative for governments in Africa to start thinking along the lines of a new economic development model that is anchored on justice, fairness and equity.
• That the World Bank and other financial institutions who have invested disproportionately in extractive activities to the detriment of the environment should not be the instrument through which funds mobilized for addressing climate change should be channelled.
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4.0 RESOLUTIONS
Recognising that protection of the environment is a duty, we all owe the earth, humanity and our civilization, the forum resolved as follows:

• That African governments should embrace the idea of keeping new oil in the soil. The development benefits inherent in this approach are enormous. An appropriate cost benefit analysis would show that multinational oil companies externalize the environmental cost of their activities and this erodes the perceived benefit of oil exploitation.
• Keeping the oil in the soil would further ensure that government revenues are not undermined but rather guaranteed given the vagaries of oil pricing which our governments have no control over. Oil is a finite resource and so emphasis should be on evolving the practice whereby citizens and donors contribute towards halting new oil exploitation. This idea would also lead to the reduction and ultimately the elimination of violent conflicts in the oil fields, ensure safe and clean environment and recreate the broken link between government funds and the peoples’ money thereby ensuring ownership, accountability and transparency.
• That all communities in Africa must deepen their struggles against environmental and climate injustices by building alliances, solidarity and sharing experiences
• That the global north must take the lead in reducing carbon emissions, providing finance and technology for adaptation and addressing the climate change problems
• That funds for addressing climate change should be provided in the form of payment of ecological debt which the global North owes to the global South. The ecological debt is a result of resource plundering, colonialism, inequitable use of global commons and disproportionate contribution to emissions that have resulted in climate change
• That African peoples must ensure that only governments that flow from their mandates are allowed to govern them.
• AFRICOM should not be allowed into the Gulf of Guinea and must NEVER be allowed into any African country.
• That the Ghanaian government as true representatives of their people should immediately investigate this barbaric action by AngloGold-Ashanti and bring all those involved in the decision to bury these small scale miners to answer for their actions.