The Green Connection say that they are relieved to hear that TotalEnergies may abandon its offshore production right application to exploit an estimated 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent from the Brulpadda and Luiperd gas fields in Block 11B/12B. This block is located off South Africa’s south coast and is situated between Mossel Bay and Cape St. Francis.
According to The Green Connection’s Advocacy Officer Lisa Makaula, “If TotalEnergies is abandoning 11B/12B, we welcome this because the climate crisis is forcing humankind to adapt or perish. Marginalised communities already bear the brunt of climate change, and still they are expected to sacrifice and risk their environment and livelihoods so that oil and gas companies can drill up fossil fuels that are no longer needed. As a young South African who is concerned about what the future holds, I believe that these fossil fuel companies should fully divest from fossil fuels and instead, refocus their investments into renewable energy projects.”
The Green Connection says that it does not support gas as part of a ‘just transition’ because the latest climate science clearly states that, over a 20-year period, methane emissions warm the atmosphere at least 80 times more than the carbon dioxide from coal This is one of the main reasons the organisation says it will continue to challenge all oil and gas exploration activities, such as with its current joint legal challenge (with Natural Justice) – against the decision to grant an environmental authorisation to TotalEnergies EP South Africa (TEEPSA) for exploratory drilling in block 5/6/7, located off the coast between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas.
Makaula says that these companies that insist on being the fossil fools of our time, must realise that civil society will keep pushing back. South Africans are currently bearing the burden of global society’s failure to address climate change. Scientists have been sounding the alarm about burning fossil fuels and climate change for decades. South Africa needs to halve its emissions by 2030 and to honour international commitments, must reduce emissions standards by 2050.
“These oil and gas companies should have begun rethinking their priorities, to instead invest in renewable projects, ages ago. Now, we need sustainable economic development that won’t leave anyone behind or jeopardise the livelihoods of coastal communities.”
BENDING OVER BACKWARDS, DMRE GIVES KARPOWERSHIPS ANOTHER BREAK
30 September 2021 was supposed to be the commercial close – a date set by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) – for bidders in the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (RMI4P).
TOSACO EIA MET WITH PUSHBACK FROM CIVIL SOCIETY, TO PROTECT THE OCEAN AND SMALL-SCALE FISHER LIVELIHOODS
This week, The Green Connection submitted its comments critiquing several aspects of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, particularly the lack of procedural fairness, as well as the conclusions reached – notwithstanding information gaps and scientific uncertainty – that should form part Tosaco Energy’s request to undertake various activities in Block 1, off the West Coast.
RECENTLY GRADUATED GREEN CONNECTORS, EQUIPPED FOR THE POLLS AND READY TO WEIGH-IN ON COP26
Following their recent graduation from The Green Connection’s Legacy Champions Programme, these newly empowered Green Connectors say they feel equipped with the necessary advocacy skills to make positive changes in their communities, starting with their vote in the local elections (1 November) and weighing in on the discussions around COP26 (which starts on 31 October) – as part of their efforts to oppose oil and gas developments in the country and offshore.
GREEN CONNECTION’S ‘FUNERAL FOR THE CLIMATE’ (AFRICAN ENERGY WEEK) AND COMMENT ON YESTERDAY’S BUDGET SPEECH
This week (10 November 2021), we joined other environmental defenders in Cape Town to peacefully demonstrate outside the African Energy Week #AEW2021 conference venue demanding an end to fossil fuels and the immediate pivot toward the just transition to a renewable energy future.
CLOSE TO 200 PEOPLE RISE AT CRACK OF DAWN TO PROTEST THE ARRIVAL OF SHELL’S SEISMIC MONSTER, AMAZON WARRIOR
On Sunday morning, (21 November 2021), before the crack of dawn, nearly 200 concerned environmental defenders took to the Waterfront to get a glimpse of Shell’s seismic testing vessel, Amazon Warrior, as it made its way into Cape Town harbour. The vessel travelled down the West coast of Africa, on its way to the Wild Coast, to conduct seismic surveys for an estimated five (5) months.
ENVIRONMENTALISTS DOUBLE-UP ON EFFORTS TO OPPOSE UPCOMING AND FURTHER SEISMIC TESTING IN SOUTH AFRICA’S OCEANS
As the groundswell of opposition against Shell’s upcoming 3D seismic survey off the Transkei builds, the Green Connection – an ecojustice NGO that supports small-scale fishers in advocating for their livelihoods – reacted with astonishment to a press statement issued by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) on 9 December 2021.