Human rights decade

Nov. 1, 1999
If the 1990s have been the "Decade of the Environment" as far as the petroleum industry is concerned, then the next decade is likely to be the "Decade of Human Rights."

If the 1990s have been the "Decade of the Environment" as far as the petroleum industry is concerned, then the next decade is likely to be the "Decade of Human Rights."

Just as the Decade of the Environment kicked off with a low point for industry-the Exxon Valdez spill-the Decade of Human Rights could start with its own Exxon Valdez equivalent: the horrific realization of a threat by Colombian Indians, the U'wa, to commit mass suicide if Occidental Petroleum Corp. drills a wildcat well on what the U'wa deem to be their ancestral lands. This has become an international cause celebre that has blocked the project for more than 2 years (OGJ, June 9, 1997, p. 36). Oxy recently received approval from Bogota to proceed, and OGJ will keep readers posted on ensuing developments.

A management issue

Managing human rights issues-in the broader context of stakeholder relations, which also encompasses environmental concerns and local economic development-will become as important in the new decade as environmental issues were in the '90s; this is why our Managing Oil and Gas Companies report, beginning on p. 49, features an article on oil operations and human rights issues.

Lest you doubt that, witness the pillorying that the oil industry recently underwent in France. A report entitled "Oil and Ethics: Is Conciliation Possible?" was submitted by deputies to the Foreign Affairs Commission (FAC) of the French National Assembly. It alleged oil companies indulged in: support of dictators in Africa, Latin America, and Asia; corrupt practices; and recurring environmental and human rights breaches.

Shortly thereafter, an international trade union conference in Paris Oct. 19-20 blistered industry for its behavior in developing countries. The underlying complaint was that developing countries are being short-changed by the oil firms that are enriched by these countries' resources with little or no benefit for local populations.

From Algeria's Khaled Rebah came a bitter comment that "oil companies exchange their raw material for parts of democracy." Cesar J. Carrillo from Fedepetrol, Colombia's largest trade union, asked, "What is BP doing to fight for the respect of human rights?" and added that "BP has taken on an army to protect a population that is not allowed to form unions." To which BP's Michel Fabiani replied, "We put pressure on the authorities and invite NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) to come and watch." He added that oil firms "ellipseare often promoters of economic and social progress."

Another speaker said, "ellipseIt is urgent that consumer countries cease to consider producer countries as simple 'reservoirs.' Safety of supplies should not be regarded as a power game based on military power but as the counterpart to the economic development of producer countries."

'Social label'

One new wrinkle that might develop from such debate is what the French FAC deputies proposed: setting up a human rights bureau within the foreign ministry that would work with NGOs to establish a "social label" in reviewing the correctness of oil industry operations in developing countries-akin to a proposition before the European Parliament.

Start planning now for the obligatory social impact statements that are sure to come.