Corporate Social Responsibility under the Petroleum Industry Act 2021: Achieving Environmental Sustainability through Multi-stakeholder Partnership.

Abstract

Several attempts have been made by the Nigerian government to reform the oil and gas industry. In March 2007, the first attempt to introduce the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Bill was initiated by the late Senator Uche Chwukwumerije but it failed to pass the second reading. Further attempts to reform the industry in 2009, 2012 and 2018 also failed until the National Assembly passed the 2021 Petroleum Industry Bill now known as the Petroleum Industry Act 2021(PIA). Chapter 3 Section 240 (2) of the PIA by making CSR contribution a mandatory levy on corporations, has changed the voluntary and self-regulatory element of CSR to hard law legislation. We are of the view, that a multi-stakeholder approach and multi-stakeholder framework comprising host communities, oil and gas companies as well as government, is essential to achieving the broad requirements of CSR in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. In this paper, we analyse this approach in line with the role and challenges of CSR as provided for under the new Petroleum Industry Act. Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Multi-stakeholder Partnership, and Petroleum Industry Act.