Both ENDS and partners demand Shell to clean up the Niger Delta before divesting

Recently, Shell sold its Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to the Renaissance Group. The deal lacks any commitment to clean up the vast oil pollution or compensate the hundreds of thousands of people affected by Shell’s operations over decades. In March 2025, 190 civil society organisations worldwide sounded the alarm about this in a joint letter sent to Shell’ Executives. The company has yet to respond.

Our questions at the AGM

As Shell didn’t respond to our letter, Emem Okon, director of Both ENDS’s partner organisation Kebetkache from the Niger Delta, will be present at Shell’s AGM together with two Both ENDS colleagues to ask our critical questions directly:

• What concrete actions will Shell take to address the severe public health crisis that communities face for generations, caused by their legacy pollution ?
• Shell’s annual report mentions a $2.5 billion loan to Renaissance for purchase of assets, not for pollution clean-up. Where are the funds for the Niger Delta’s recovery?
• What due diligence did Shell conduct to ensure Renaissance can meet Nigeria’s and international legal obligations for pollution remediation and asset decommissioning?
• Why should investors or affected communities trust that clean-up will happen, when there are no public commitments from Shell or Renaissance to do so?

The consequences of pollution in the Niger Delta

For over 70 years, communities in the Niger Delta have paid the price for Shell’s profits: breathing toxic air, farming oil-logged soil, and fishing in rivers choked with hydrocarbons. A recent four-year study by the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission revealed the staggering scale of damage: it will take at least $12 billion to begin repairing environmental and public health harms in Bayelsa State alone — just one of nine affected states in the Delta.

"When will Shell stop prioritising profit over public health?" asks Emem Okon. "Tests show hydrocarbon levels in women’s bloodstreams at more than 8,000 times the World Health Organization's limits. Women here suffer respiratory diseases, fertility problems, cancer, and sight loss. Shell cannot divest without clean-up and remediation!"

Responsible exit is part of a just energy transition

 “A just energy transition is critical and it is about time Shell takes part in it,” says Ana Xambre Pereira, Advocacy Officer, Both ENDS . “Shell’s current exit is not a responsible divestment nor an energy transition, it’s an offloading of toxic assets and liabilities onto the local communities, while Shell continues its offshore fossil fuel operations and walks away with the profits. A just energy transition means enforcing clear standards for responsible divestment now, and investing into sustainable alternatives before more communities are sacrificed.”

Both ENDS stands in unwavering solidarity with Niger Delta communities. We call on investors, regulators and the global public to demand that Shell is held accountable. There can be no responsible divestment without clean-up, remediation, and justice.