COP27, the international climate action negotiations, ran from 6-18 November 2022 and yet, in that time, fossil fuel companies have released a stream of oil and gas application documents for public comment.
Much like the climate, frustration about the lack of tangible action from COP27 is heating up. In its first “Lunchtime Briefing” (held on 9 November) to unpack its opposition of offshore oil and gas – fossil fuels with carbon and methane emissions that contribute to global warming and climate change – The Green Connection and partners explained how oil and gas exploration also risks harm to marine species and functioning ecosystems, which in turn affects the wellbeing of coastal communities and small-scale fishers by putting their livelihoods and food security at risk.
With just days away from COP27 – where world leaders, including from South Africa, will discuss
proposed global climate action commitments – The Green Connection says that without an integrated energy plan (IEP) that marks a clear pathway for decarbonisation in the energy sector, the country’s climate commitments will be nothing more than hot air.
In November, COP27 sees world leaders and other important decision-makers meet to discuss global efforts to address the climate crisis. Recent press reports have revealed that the country is the world’s 13th biggest source of climate-warming greenhouse gases and has pledged to reduce these emissions to net zero by 2050.
Following a number of unsubstantiated allegations made about The Green Connection and its workwith small-scale fishers along South Africa’s coast, the eco-justice organisation wants to set the record straight, especially since environmental defenders are under increasing attack, as a result of their efforts to protect people and nature from 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.
