The Federal Government of Nigeria and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) today announced the end of UNEP’s formal engagement with the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) under the Ministry of Environment, which comes to a close with the completion of the organization’s five-year technical assistance project. The HYPREP project will continue under the leadership of the Nigerian Ministry of Environment.
The Federal Government of Nigeria and UNEP have partnered to improve the environmental situation in Ogoniland since 2008. At the time, UNEP was requested to support the Federal Government of Nigeria in assessing the heavily oil-polluted environment of Ogoniland and provide recommendations on its clean-up. UNEP completed its comprehensive scientific study with an assessment report published in 2011 and recommended a major clean-up initiative that may last up to 25 years and cost up to US$ 1 billion for the first five years.
UNEP’s report and recommendations were accepted by stakeholders, including the Ogoni community – through translation of the key findings and recommendations into the four Ogoniland languages and sharing these through public forums – the Federal Government of Nigeria, and Shell Petroleum Development Corporation, which pioneered oil development in the Niger Delta. As evidence of national ownership of UNEP’s report, in 2017 the Federal Government of Nigeria established a newly dedicated institution, the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) under the Ministry of Environment, to implement its recommendations. Concurrently, UNEP was requested to provide technical assistance and capacity building to help establish the nascent HYPREP in undertaking the clean-up.
In its technical advisory capacity, UNEP has, since 2018, been providing advice and technical support in addition to helping keep all stakeholders engaged and informed of the progress and challenges facing HYPREP. While the focus of UNEP’s assistance has been on the assessment and remediation of oil-contaminated sites, it has also closely engaged and advised key HYPREP interventions on livelihoods, drinking water supply, the design and construction of the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration, mangrove restoration, geographic information management, and monitoring and evaluation of HYPREP activities.
As UNEP’s formal engagement with HYPREP ends, UNEP will continue supporting Nigeria in addressing its environmental challenges, from land degradation to plastic pollution. Furthermore, UNEP will maintain a remote standing capacity to help HYPREP with any technical questions that may arise over the next six months until June 2024 and share the lessons learned from HYPREP with other countries of the region. Other UN agencies may join the Government of Nigeria to provide additional support to HYPREP.
