Visiting researcher Dr. Eddy Wifa on his research, background and visit to Bergen

Dr. Eddy Wifa is an Energy Law Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, where he completed both a Masters in Oil and Gas law (Distinction) and a PhD in “Offshore Marine Renewable Energy Risk Governance”. 

During the month of November, he visited the Faculty of Law at the University of Bergen, more specifically the research group for Natural Resource Law, Environmental law and Development law. On this occasion, we sat down for a little chat about his research, his background from Nigeria and the oil & gas industry, and how he was inspired to work with energy law and more specifically the health and safety regulation of offshore wind.

Close ties to the research community in Bergen

First of all, looking back on a record-breaking November rainfall, we had to ask Eddy why he chose to visit the University of Bergen, and what motivated him to come here as a visiting researcher. 

- I was invited following my interactions with Ignacio back in 2018, when he visited Aberdeen just as I was finishing my PhD in “Offshore Marine Renewable Energy Risk Governance”. It is a subject that fascinated him, and we had many discussions on how to develop a regime for offshore wind safety regulation here in Norway.

Even before this visit, Eddy worked closely with researchers in Norway. He was, among other things, a part of the advisory team for a project that Professor Sigrid Eskeland Schütz has been working on, the DeWindSea-project. On the occasion of this project, he visited Bergen for two days back in 2018, and was always supposed to come back for a longer stay. Then Covid happened, and the visit got postponed, but he was finally able to come back for a month this November.

He laughs heartily when we ask what he thinks about the weather in Bergen, and the record-breaking rainfall that has characterized his stay.

- The first time I came to Bergen was in the summer of 2018, and I stayed for two days - with no rain! So I was thinking like "wow", this is lovely, I should do this again. One month in now, the story is a little different. But it rains a lot in Aberdeen as well, so I am used to it. The only difference is that I pretty much drive everywhere in Aberdeen, as I live a somewhat far away from the University, whereas here in Bergen I am staying quite close to the University, so I walk to and from. And as you can imagine, it always starts pouring down the second I walk out the door, he laughs.

Weather jokes aside, Eddy tells us that he is very happy with his stay, and compliments the quality and friendliness of the research group for Natural Resource Law in Bergen.

- I was pretty excited and motivated to come to Bergen because this University and this research group do provide some really excellent knowledge in the area of offshore wind planning, marine spatial planning and ecological governance, and there are a number of talented people working here, like Ernst - who was my PhD external examiner - and Ignacio, of course. The group really provides excellent colleagues, and we are looking at quite a lot of projects to move forward with in the future, so what is not to love here when you are invited to come, he smiles. 

From oil & gas to offshore wind safety

When talking about his research and what legal areas he specializes in, Eddy does not hide the fact that he has taken a somewhat untraditional - yet logical - path from oil and gas regulations to the regulation of offshore wind safety.

- Yes, I do come from and oil and gas background before I got a scholarship to do my PhD in offshore wind safety, but I don’t feel ashamed to say that, and I’ll explain why. During the course of my studies and my research, I began to to realize that the oil and gas industry already provides several regulatory frameworks for new emerging technology - like offshore wind - to emulate, of course with some tweaks. With this in mind, my focus slowly shifted from oil and gas regulations in terms of licensing, contracting models and risk allocations, to issues regarding renewable energy, particularly offshore wind health and safety and risk governance, Eddy explains.

The oil and gas industry already provides several regulatory frameworks for new emerging technology - like offshore wind - to emulate

Elaborating on this shift, he tells us that the specific interest for the regulation of health and safety came quite naturally when he discovered the substantial lack of research related to these issues.

- When you see an industry growing at the rate that offshore wind has over the past few years, the next question is then what are the potential concerns and things that we need to pay atterntion to. Over the years there has been a lot of focus on the planning, the ecological governance and the technological development regarding offshore wind, but I found that not very much attention had been paid to safeguarding the lives of those designing, installing, operating and maintaining the offshore wind turbines. Therefore, this became my focus, he says.

Despite of this focus on the need for regulating the area, Eddy stresses that simply giving laws does not always solve the problem in itself. The most important thing is to achieve better safety and health for the workers of the industry, no matter by what means this is achieved.

- What I do is that I try to analyze a variety of health and safety regulation theories, apply them to the offshore wind industry, and come up with a suitable regulatory model for offshore wind health and safety. This does not necessarily mean that we need many new laws. For me, "regulation" is not about adding laws on every issue, but designing the law in such a way so that it achieves the regulatory objective. In other words, regulation does not have to lead to new layers of bureaucracy and obstacles for those who want to engage in offshore wind power, but can actually make the process less complex and more straightforward, Eddy says enthusiastically. 

How growing up in Nigeria inspired him to practice law

It quickly becomes apparent that the issue of the safety and health of workers in the offshore wind industry is close to Eddy's heart. This concern for the lives of others is something he has brought with him from his childhood in Nigeria, where he witnessed the law itself being used as an instrument to take the lives of those who opposed the government and the powerful oil and gas industry.

- I come from Nigeria, more specifically an area in the Niger Delta region known as Ogoni, which has a lot of oil. When I was barely ten years old, widespread agitation broke out due to how the oil companies and the government colluded to cover up oil spills and the subsequent environmental pollution of that region. People started protesting, trying to hold the government and the companies to account. But rather than listen, the government and the military killed those who opposed them - including the leader of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Ken Saro-Wiwa - on the basis of "sham trials". It was then, when I saw how the law did not save those people but in fact was used as an instrument to kill them in a trial that had already been decided beforehand, that I decided that I would be a lawyer, and that I would always stand for justice, Eddy says.

It was then, when I saw how the law did not save those people but in fact was used as an instrument to kill them in a trial that had already been decided beforehand, that I decided that I would be a lawyer, and that I would always stand for justice

These experiences in Nigeria also made Eddy see the importance of how the law can have a preventive effect and stop accidents from happening in the future, instead of just acting as a compensation scheme when losses first occur. This is something he has brought with him into his research on the health and safety of offshore workers.

- I wanted to do things differently from what I saw happen in Nigeria, and take a more risk analysis based approach in my research. We cannot wait for another Grenfell Tower or Alexander Kielland accident before we react and regulate. My research therefore argues that we need to constantly reevaluate the regulations and see if we have the right systems in place or not, he continues.

Using this visit to kickstart more collaboration in the future

Bringing the conversation back to his visit to Bergen, Eddy tells us that he has had a lot of exciting things lined up during his stay. He is particularly fond of conversations like this, informal conversations where you can make a larger audience aware of the challenges that exist in given areas of the law.

- When you write articles, not very many people actually read them, so I really love informal approaches like this interview to get the conversation going and raise awareness on the issues that we talk about, Eddy says.

Furthermore, he has also participated in a number of other projects and events during his stay. First and foremost, he tells of how the visit enabled him to really get going on a new offshore energy project with people in the research group, as it is much easier to have informal meetings and brainstorm ideas when you are together in the same room. Furthermore, he says that they are working on a very specific paper on offshore wind safety in Norway, which is halfway done with and hopefully published early next year. Finally, he is an important part of the GOV-WIND project led by Associate Professor Ignacio Herrera Anchustegui, the Offshore Energy Research Initiative and the DeWindSea project led by Professor Sigrid Eskeland Schütz.

Should we believe Eddy himself, this is not the last time he visits Norway and Bergen - a country and a city with strong connections to offshore wind.

- I really do see this visit as a kind of primer to more collaboration in the future. Offshore wind health and safety is a very relevant topic for Norway, who is on the verge of designing its legal regime regarding offshore wind. So hopefully we can get some more funding and support, and maybe even do a bigger conference on offshore wind safety in Bergen or Aberdeen, Eddy says.

A plea for more collaboration and sincerity, and for local communities to be heard

We ended the conversation on a rather philosophical note, asking Eddy what he sees at the biggest challenge for the future in his legal field of work. He points out that legal issues in energy are becoming more and more complex, and that we must realize this and do something about it.

- Our energy system is not just transitioning but transforming before our very eyes, and this puts more responsibility on governments to regulate adequately and on researchers to be independent and work interdisciplinary together to find the best solutions, Eddy stresses. 

Drawing on his experiences from Nigeria again, another issue close to Eddy's heart is how energy transition will affect local communities around the world. He stresses that local communities must be heard when governing energy resources and transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy. For countries in the global south it is going to be very difficult to balance between making the best possible use of resources while at the same time reducing emissions. Therefore, we must avoid making energy transition an elitist conversation, and not force the change.

He concludes with two key words that, in his opinion, will be important when tackling these global challenges that we face together.

- There is no easy fix to the issues we have discussed, but at the top of my head I think we need more collaboration and more sincerity. That is what we need. Collaboration and sincerity, Eddy finishes.

With this we thank the very inspiring and talented Dr. Eddy Wifa for visiting us in Bergen, and wish him a warm welcome back on a later occasion.

Photo:

University of Aberdeen