September 25, 2022 ECO-JUSTICE WATCHDOG RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT INSUFFICIENT INFO ON AZINAM’S OIL SPILL CONTINGENCY PLANNING As the Azinam/Eco Atlantic oil rig – which left the North Sea on 12 August – makes its way to South Africa to begin its exploration drilling for oil and gas on the West Coast, The Green Connection raises

The wait is finally over for the Wild Coast communities and civil society when, on 1 September 2022, the Makhanda High court ruled that the decision to grant the exploration right is set aside, as well as the decision to grant the renewal of this right. The decision to grant a further, second renewal, has also been set aside for Shell.

“Civil society, traditional communities and small-scale have once again been vindicated by the courts. Well done to our comrades for staying the course of this fight against Shell, to protect our oceans and the rights of those communities who will be affected.” This is the message from The Green Connection, an eco-justice organisation opposed to offshore oil and gas exploitation.

The Green Connection says the Minister of Environmental Affairs Barbara Creecy made the right decision to decline Karpowerships’ appeal application against its failure to get environmental authorisations to operate in Saldanha Bay, Coega and Richards Bay.

Civil society organisations, activists and fishers have vowed to continue their struggle to persuade the government to stop offshore oil and gas exploration projects on the coasts of South Africa. Today, on the 15th of August, civil society organizations together with fisher communities, held a protest outside the harbour at Paarden Eiland.

The Green Connection Legacy programme is an empowerment programme that was launched in 2021, which aims to equip community champions with necessary skills to fight socio-economic injustices that pose major threats to the environment and oceans, while advocating for sustainable energy solutions.

Earlier in this month dedicated to remembering Madiba and the principles he held dear, The Green Connection handed over the verdict statement – as deliberated by an esteemed jury, at its Oceans Tribunal in September 2021 – to the Presidential Climate Change Commission.

After numerous court actions to halt Shell’s seismic surveys off the Wild Coast Eastern Cape (in search of offshore oil and gas), on 24 May 2022, small-scale fishers from the region called on local traditional leaders to do better at fulfilling their responsibilities as custodians of communal land extending to the ocean, in ways that best serve the interests of local communities in the affected areas.

With little more than seven (7) years till 2030 – by which time the world should have dramatically curbed its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as part of a global effort to keep global warming below 1.5°C – The Green Connection says that it will continue to oppose government’s worrying offshore oil and gas aspirations.

The Green Connection says that Minister Gwede Mantashe’s excuses and blame shifting about the terrible state of Eskom and the country’s failing energy systems are unacceptable.