Title: Assessing the intersections between renewable energy, sustainable development and the challenges of environmental justice in Nigeria

Authors: Olanrewaju Oladokun Adeojo; Olusegun Michael Osinibi

Addresses: Department of Business and Industrial Law, Faculty of Law, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria ' Department of Private Law, Faculty of Law, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract: One of the greatest challenges besetting Nigeria is the excessive dependence on fossil fuels for energy and economic sustenance. The non-renewable nature of fossil fuels and the degradation it wreaks on the environment has raised doubts about the attainment of sustainable development in Nigeria unless there is a move towards renewable energy. This is imperative due to the advent of hydraulic fracturing in the USA, the instability in the global oil market, the inevitable depletion of fossil fuels and the recent COP-21 agreement. This paper thus examines the prospects of sustainable development in Nigeria in view of the government's over-dependence on fossil fuels as well as the implications of such over-dependence on environmental sustainability and the attainment of environmental justice in Nigeria. The paper further argues for a shift towards the stable utilisation of renewable energy to avoid further damage to the environment caused by reliance on conventional energy sources.

Keywords: environmental degradation; environmental justice; fossil fuels; global oil markets; hydraulic fracturing; fracking; Nigeria; renewable energy; sustainable development; USA; United States; sustainability.

DOI: 10.1504/IER.2016.076184

Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, 2016 Vol.17 No.2, pp.149 - 166

Received: 30 Apr 2015
Accepted: 21 Dec 2015

Published online: 27 Apr 2016 *

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