On the 13 th of May, 2023, oil impacted communities across Africa and thousands of climate justice
activists joined the People’s Heath Tribunal to hear testimonies from frontline communities on the
negative impacts of extractivism on their health, environment and livelihoods. The event which was
organized by a coalition of organizations including We the People, People’s Health Movement,
StopEACOP, Tipping Point, among others, was created as an open forum to hear testimonies and
narratives by members of communities where Shell and Total carry out their operations in Africa.
A statement released ahead of the tribunal said, ‘extractive corporations like Shell and Total are
hurting communities around the world. Their enormous profits come at the expense of the health and
wellbeing of people living on the frontlines of extraction. But communities are fighting back. From
the Niger Delta and South Africa to Mozambique and East Africa, the people of Africa are putting
Shell and Total on trial”.
The People’s Health Tribunal aimed at not only hearing narratives about the negative impacts of
extraction by these oil companies, but also exploring opportunities and strategies for holding fossil
fuel corporations to account for environmental injustice committed against the planet and its people.
Over a course of 8 hours, the tribunal recorded key testimonies from individuals from Nigeria’s Niger
Delta, Mozambique, South Africa and East Africa. Testimony givers rendered accounts of the pains
brought on their communities by Shell and Total’s extractive activities. They narrated how the
extractive activities of the companies had caused the poisoning of community people, dangerous
health impacts, loss of livelihoods, human rights abuses and violence.
The tribunal will deliver its judgement on the 20 th of May, 2023 at 2pm UTC.