The NGO Bloom denounces the gas exploitation project of TotalEnergies off the coast of South Africa
The tower housing the headquarters of TotalEnergies in the La Défense district of Paris.
AP - Rafael Yaghobzadeh
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
On September 5, TotalEnergies filed an operating license application for two blocks with the South African authorities.
This is a three billion dollar investment project.
Advertising
Read more
The South African authorities have confirmed receipt of TotalEnergies' request made on September 5th.
Two gas blocks are concerned on the east coast of South Africa.
South African consultations are open until January 20, 2023, but this new mining project on the continent is already having environmental activists in South Africa and France stepping up to the plate.
If the license were awarded, it would be a dangerous precedent, said Claire Nouvian, founder of the environmental association Bloom.
“
There is a danger which is the danger of precedent.
Until now, all the other oil companies were waiting for two things: to see if it was technically possible to exploit at such great depths in areas with so much current and with such difficult weather conditions.
The second thing was to see if the South African government was going to issue the production permits or not.
We can clearly see that from the moment we open the door, the entire world oil industry is engulfed.
It is therefore strictly essential to prevent Total from obtaining this first permit
", she said during
Alongside Bloom and the South African organization The Green Connection were also French parliamentarians.
"
As MEPs, when a company launches such a climate bomb, we must be present because it is also a question of relaying the words of South Africans, and in particular of small-scale fishermen who will be confronted with this type of project,
explained MEP Raphaël Glucksmann.
When you set targets as an MEP on greenhouse gas emission reductions in 20, 30, 40 years, you can no longer support this type of mega-project that ties our hands climatically for decades .
Public power makes commitments and behind it, huge private powers like Total do the exact opposite.
»
The area concerned is rich in biodiversity and is located on the migration route of whales.
Local communities are concerned about the possible impacts of extraction on fishing and their cultural practices related to the sea. A seismic exploration project initiated by Shell was also suspended at the end of last year by the South-Eastern justice Africa, following actions carried out by environmental NGOs and local communities.
►
To read also: The trial of TotalEnergies for non-compliance with the duty of vigilance in Uganda and Tanzania postponed
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
South Africa
France
Energies