Civil society organizations The Green Connection and Natural Justice presented this month a presentation on the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) scoping process for the Block 11B/12B offshore production right project and environmental authorization for TotalEnergies South Africa, as part of the public participation process.
The organizations say the assessment has several shortcomings, which will affect the interests of local and indigenous peoples and communities.
“After a careful assessment, we have found that the impacts associated with the production are very significant and unacceptable, and therefore we propose that the environmental authorization be refused.
“Furthermore, we found the ESIA to be sorely lacking in its plans for full assessment, particularly when it comes to assessing the full impact of the proposed project on marine life and ecosystems and on climate change.” , says The Green Connection’s advocacy officer. Believe that we resist.
“There are simply too many gaps in the information, which shows that they didn’t think it through enough. And if we’ve learned anything from previous court rulings about efforts to explore our oceans for oil and gas , a precautionary approach needs to be taken,” adds Simelane.
In December 2022, Simelane delivered a memorandum to the South African board of directors of TotalEnergies, demanding that it halt its ongoing oil and gas exploration projects off the coast of South Africa.
The organizations say they question the accuracy of modeling about the effects of methane from an explosion, especially since studies show that methane can cause depletion of oxygen levels and acidification when it dissolves in the marine environment.
They also point out that when methane bubbles reach the surface, it also directly contributes to climate change. The prerequisite studies – of the composition of the particular condensate of the field being drilled and laboratory studies on its destination in the environment – have not yet been done, which are necessary for the evaluation, they indicate.
According to the organizations, the expected assessment of the immediate and chronic impacts of sonar and seismic surveys on all species in the affected area is another matter, mainly because they say that the ESIA does not accurately describe the baseline environmental conditions.
It must consider impacts on marine mammals as well as other marine species dependent on acoustics and their important biological functions, the organizations say.
For example, the assessment does not yet detail how impacts will be mitigated during humpback and southern right whale migration periods, nor does it detail how operational spills and leaks will be mitigated during spawning periods. These will be critical in the full assessment process, the organizations stress.
“It must be understood that just because a company has gone through the legally required procedures of an application, this does not guarantee that the project will go ahead. The purpose of the process, particularly the requirement for significant public participation, is to assess the need and desirability of carrying out the project. This means weighing all the pros and cons in terms of the impact on people, the environment and climate change,” says Simelane.
“Block 11B/12B are just two of the many blocks off our coast where there are exploration applications that have been made. The growing oil and gas projects in our oceans, essentially wall-to-wall blocks of our entire coast, they will have important implications for people’s constitutional rights (their livelihoods, their heritage and health rights), but they will also have implications for our ocean life. , and ecosystem impacts,” explains Natural Justice.
“We have a human rights obligation and responsibility to reduce our climate impacts. We must ensure that proper legal processes are followed and that the interests and voices of people and marine life are taken into account when making decisions about oil and gas exploration off our coast. If properly considered, the conclusion must be that oil and gas resources must remain in the ground,” the organization adds.
It has encouraged people, including fishermen and other ocean-dependent communities, to submit submissions on the scoping report.
The public still has time to submit their comments. The deadline has been extended until February 14.
Green Connection’s petition to stop offshore oil and gas, as part of their Who Stole Our Oceans campaign, can be accessed at: https://www.change.org/p/imagine-a-world- with-oiled-up-beaches-without-ocean-living-we’re-running-out-of-time
