For decades, major oil companies, including Shell, ExxonMobil, and Chevron, have been producing oil in the Niger Delta, an ecologically fragile environment of freshwater swamp forests, mangroves, lowland rainforests, and coastal barrier islands. This rich habitat supports remarkable biodiversity – or did before the oil companies got there –&#160;and more than 30 million local inhabitants, who depend on the local ecosystems for their health and livelihoods.
尼日利亚就曾经是企业逍遥于环境污染惩罚之外的例子。几十年来，包括壳牌、埃克森美孚和雪弗龙在内的各大石油公司一直在尼日尔三角洲开采石油。尼日尔三角洲是一个拥有淡水沼泽森林、红树林、低地雨林和沿海屏障岛屿的脆弱生态环境。这片肥沃富饶的栖息地支撑着非凡的生物多样性——或者说在石油公司来破坏之前是这样的——而当地3000多万居民的健康和生计都依赖于该生态系统。