Concerned citizens from all around South Africa came out to peacefully protest the Total Destruction of the ocean and to demand an end of the exploration and extraction of any new climate change-escalating fossil fuel projects.
Release
Concerned citizens from Port Nolloth in Northern Cape to Saldanha and Cape Town to Knysna and Beaufort West in Western Cape, all the way to Gqeberha and Xolobeni Eastern Cape, Durban, and Richards Bay in KZN and even inland in Johannesburg – came out to peacefully protest the Total Destruction of the ocean and to demand an end of the exploration and extraction of any new climate change-escalating fossil fuel projects. Demonstrators around the country are raising the alarm and creating widespread public awareness that the government and the oil and gas industry are not taking the climate crisis seriously, as efforts to further explore for and extract offshore oil and gas are ramped-up.
“The world is in a climate crisis, which means we should be making moves to (eventually, but steadily) cancel all fossil fuels, not discover more fossil fuel reserves and increase production – this contradicts the energy transition currently under way. We believe that all applications for new projects should be stopped and that companies like TotalEnergies should instead invest their huge profits to transition away from fossil fuels,” says The Green Connection’s Community Outreach Coordinator Neville van Rooy.
The picket forms part of civil society mobilizing for a just energy transition and is The Green Connection’s collaboration with French NGO Bloom, which kicked-off in October 2022 is part of this mobilization. The campaign OceanTotalDestruction calls out the French-based company, which continues to reap significant profits (up 131%) from offshore oil and gas exploration and production, at the expense of the climate and exposing healthy oceans and the dignity and livelihoods of those who depend on it at risk of a major oil spill.
“The climate crisis comes with a lot of uncertainty and, as a result, we must protect our precious natural resources from harm. The ocean not only helps us mitigate climate change but is also critical to food security for coastal communities, while sustaining the livelihoods of thousands of small-scale (subsistence) fishers. However, even though COP27 just ended a few of weeks ago, fossil fuel companies have already released a stream of oil and gas application documents for public comment (in South Africa), with TotalEnergies leading the charge,” says van Rooy
He says that The Green Connection recently made no less than five (5) submissions on applications to either conduct offshore seismic surveys and/or for exploration and production activities, with TotalEnergies having an interest in most. Civil society is particularly concerned about the environmental authorization applications by TotalEnergies SA to undertake exploration well drilling in the Deep Western Orange Basin License Block (off the West Coast of South Africa) and in License Block 5/6/7 (off the Southwestern Coast of South Africa), as well as an application for authorization to undertake production drilling and related activities in License Block 11B/12B off Mossel Bay.
“With France supposedly being such a key player in global climate action efforts, it seems hypocritical that one of its largest companies are allowed to pursue extractive fossil fuel projects here in the Global South. But Total is not the only problem. We also have to contend with multiclient seismic survey companies like Searcher and TGS, as well as the contentious Karpowership gas -to-power projects planned for three South African ports. None of these are good for the climate or for the people,” says van Rooy.
The Green Connection’s Advocacy Officer Kholwani Simelane says, “We have to question, is there a link between South Africa not having an integrated energy plan (IEP) and the energy crises? Since energy is the lifeblood of the economy, impacting all sectors including individual livelihoods, integrated and inclusive energy planning is critical to ensure that current and future energy needs are met in the most environmentally sustainable, cost effective, efficient, and socially beneficial ways, while also taking climate change into account.”