Public Participation: An Imperative To The Sustainable Development Of The Nigerian Oil Industry

Environmental rights are one of the emerging rights in the arena of international human rights law and international environmental law. Though the jurisprudence of the rights is still in its formative stages, there is no doubt that the right is well recognized in the sphere of international law and has (and still is) influencing local legislation towards environmental sustenance.

1.0       Introduction

Environmental rights are one of the emerging rights in the arena of international human rights law and international environmental law. Though the jurisprudence of the rights is still in its formative stages, there is no doubt that the right is well recognized in the sphere of international law and has (and still is) influencing local legislation towards environmental sustenance.[1] No doubt, this development is greatly influenced by the new development paradigm – sustainable development – that recognizes the need to engage in environmental-friendly development programmes and activities. Environmental rights include the ‘substantive’ right to a clean environment, and ‘procedural’ rights to act to protect the environment, the right to information and finally access to justice.[2] This paper focuses mainly on the legal imperatives of these procedural rights referred to as public participation as a means towards achieving sustainable development of Nigeria’s Niger Delta region and its oil resources.