Human rights and the environment in the Middle East and North African region: trends, limitations and opportunities

 Damilola Olawuyi

Abstract

This chapter develops a profile of law and governance arrangements across the Middle East and North African (MENA) region, designed to respect, protect and fulfil the fundamental human right to environment and sustainable development. It examines the potentials and limitations of constitutional and legislative approaches to environmental human rights enforcement in the region. It then discusses the need for procedural reforms to address institutional barriers to stakeholder engagement and participation that limit the committed and coordinated delivery of environmental justice in the region. By ensuring that the design, approval, finance and implementation of development projects occur with the participation and approval of all stakeholders, including women, young people and vulnerable communities, environmental pollution and human rights infringements due to development projects, may be better anticipated and avoided.

The achievement of regulatory excellence in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria: the 2017 National Oil and Gas Policy

 Chilenye Nwapi

Abstract

This article critically assesses the regulatory landscape for oil and gas development proposed under the 2017 Nigeria gas and petroleum policies, which are together referred to as the Nigeria Oil and Gas Policy (NOGP) 2017, to highlight its capacity to lead to the achievement of regulatory excellence in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. The assessment is based on a conceptual framework developed by the Penn Program on Regulation (PPR) at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2015 to assist the Alberta Energy Regulator – the body responsible for regulating energy development in Alberta, Canada – to identify the best regulatory approach to overcome the challenges of regulating energy development in the province. The PPR framework is selected not only because it is based on a detailed and systematic review of earlier frameworks but also because it is the only framework prepared primarily for the energy sector, though its elements can be easily adapted to other sectors as well. The article’s central argument is that while the NOGP 2017 represents an important step forward in the efforts to effectively regulate the oil and gas industry, there are significant gaps in the regulatory landscape proposed in the policy for the achievement of regulatory excellence. The article identifies those gaps and notes, however,that the achievement of regulatory excellence depends considerably on the implementation framework adopted by the new yet-to-be-established regulator when it comes into operation.

Keywords: regulatory excellence, petroleum policy, gas policy, Nigeria, Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, utmost integrity, empathic engagement, stellar competence