Archbishop slams ‘environmental genocide’

The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, has described the damage done by oil exploration in Nigeria as an environmental genocide. Speaking to the BBC as part of a commission investigating the impact of multinational oil companies in the southern Bayelsa state, he called for an end to double standards. ‘People talk about environmental degradation. I think that's too weak a phrase. For me, really, as I've looked at the environment and as I've looked at people's lives, I've come to the conclusion that this is a very slow environmental genocide really, in the end.’ He said the poor condition of the facilities would not be tolerated anywhere else on the planet, and the companies were ultimately responsible for any spills from their installations. Sentamu added that ‘we live in a global village (and) these are my neighbours’.