The world will tomorrow, June 5, mark the 2021 World Environment Day (WED) as introduced by the United Nations.
“To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival.” These words of Wendell Erdman Berry underscore the emerging conversations as we mark yet another World Environment Day.
The World Environment Day, which takes place annually on June 5 is an event to celebrate and promote environmental awareness and sustainability across the globe. Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972, World Environment Day aims to raise global awareness and mobilize humans to take positive environmental action to protect nature, and planet Earth. The World Environment Day 2021 will see the launch of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
“Ecosystem Restoration”, the theme for World Environment Day 2021, means assisting in the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed, as well as conserving the ecosystems that are still intact. Healthier ecosystems, with richer biodiversity, yield greater benefits such as more fertile soils, bigger yields of timber and fish, and larger greenhouse gas sinks.
Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), operator of the joint venture between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and CNL (“NNPC/CNL JV”), conducts its business in a socially and environmentally sustainable manner. CNL complies with applicable regulatory requirements, stakeholder expectation, best industry practices, and has made Environmental Stewardship part of its social investment programmes.
Explaining CNL’s commitment to ecosystem restoration, the Chairman/Managing Director, Rick Kennedy noted that CNL is proud to be part of the solution to the global environmental issues wherever the company operates, through its sound environmental management policy and practices that supports environmental stewardship and sustainable development.
According to him, CNL has in place a company-wide Operational Excellence Management System (OEMS) that delivers industry-leading performance in process safety, personal safety and health, environment, reliability, and efficiency. “CNL’s OEMS process lays the foundation for sound environmental management. The identification, assessment and management of environmental risks runs through the entire project cycle from inception to operations and through decommissioning,” he stated.
CNL recognizes the importance of minimizing its environmental footprint towards ensuring ecosystem restoration. The company continually aims to achieve world class environmental excellence by assessing, eliminating, and mitigating potential risks and thereby effectively managing the footprint from its operations on the environment. CNL is committed to environmental sustainability; including ecosystem restoration interventions where required as recently shown in a mangrove restoration project in one of CNL’s operated fields.
CNL continues to conduct relevant environmental assessments and audits of its operations to ensure environmental risks are identified and where necessary mitigated and managed in accordance with statutory requirements, environmental performance standards and industry best practices. The company continues to invest in best available technology for tracking and managing its ecological footprint in its areas of operation.
