WATCH: Short Explainer Video ‘Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) within the Oil and Gas Industry’

Environmental impact assessments (or EIAs) are important processes required when (for example) an oil or gas drilling/exploration project is proposed. EIAs provide communities with the opportunity to raise any concerns, and if done correctly, help shape the final project. This means that more sustainable development projects are approved that are not only going to serve and improve human well-being but will also ensure that we do not damage the environment.

To help inform the content in this third video in its ‘Who Stole Our Oceans’ campaign, The Green Connection considered Total E & P’s application for oil exploration on South Africa’s South coast, near Mossel Bay, and once again called on renowned expert on environmental management tools, Professor Merle Sowman to highlight some of the key challenges faced by communities.

The Green Connection’s Community Outreach Coordinator Neville van Rooy also explains that small-scale fishers are far too often not informed about projects planned for their areas, and therefore do not get a say in whether it goes ahead or not, even if it will have negative impacts for them. And The Green Connection’s Environmental Social Worker Linda Arkert adds further context about the socioeconomic impacts of oil and gas projects.  EIAs are only valuable if they are done correctly and comprehensively, with proper, adequate, and meaningful consultation.

Currently, there are a lot of oil and gas extraction project proposals in the works and coming up, and people – in those areas – need to understand how many proposals there are and to what extent these projects will affect them and their environments. Communities must fully understand the overarching impacts of the projects envisaged before they can be approved.

Watch the short ‘EIA within the Oil and Gas Industry’ explainer video in the language of your choice:

For isiXhosa, click here: Uvavanyo olujongene neendlela uShishino lweOli neGesi oluthi luchaphazele

For English, click here: Environmental Impact Assessments within the Oil and Gas Industry

For Afrikaans, click here: Omgewingsimpakstudies (EIA) in die Olie- en Gasbedryf

Other videos in the series include ‘Opposing Oil and Gas Exploration in South Africa’, ‘What is an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)?’ and ‘How Does Parliament Work?’

For more information about The Green Connection’s Who Stole Our Oceans campaign, follow us on the socials: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.