SA has cocked a snook at an alliance of countries, cities and states that announced at the COP26 climate summit in Scotland a concerted effort to phase out oil and gas production.
Multinational company Shell this week made public its plan to start a seismic survey for oil and gas along SA's sensitive Wild Coast from December 1, with government approval.
The Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance is determined to set an end date to Shell's oil and gas exploration and extraction, and to curtail new licensing or take other measures aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, the international climate treaty.
Shell's announcement has drawn outrage from environmental activists, local fishermen and the public, and has fuelled a petition campaign to stop the survey.
Oceans Not Oil, which describes itself as the public’s voice against offshore oil and gas development, says the government’s Operation Phakisa, which focuses on unlocking the economic potential of SA’s oceans, is driving Shell’s exploration.
The government believes Operation Phakisa could contribute up to R177bn to GDP by 2033 and create between 800,000 and 1-million direct jobs.
“The vessel operated by Shell Exploration and Production SA’s hirelings, Shearwater GeoServices, will, for five months, drag up to 48 air guns methodically through 6,011km² of ocean surface, firing extremely loud shock wave emissions that penetrate through 3km of water and 40km into the Earth’s crust below the seabed,” Oceans Not Oil said in a statement.
“Many sea creatures could be affected in the coming months — whales, dolphins, seals, penguins, sharks and even crabs and tiny shellfish will be blasted.
“At a time when world leaders are making promises and decisions to step away from fossil fuels ... Operation Phakisa is pushing ever harder to get its hands on a local supply of gas.”
• 6,011km²: The area to be covered in the survey
• 4-5 months: The time the survey will take to complete
— IN NUMBERS
More than 37,000 people have signed Oceans Not Oil's petition calling on forestry, fisheries & the environment minister Barbara Creecy to withdraw approval of Shell's application.
Judy Mann of the South African Association for Marine Biological Research warned that no marine life is designed to handle the loud noise that is likely to come from the exploration.
“We definitely know that it has an impact on whales and dolphins. The people doing the seismic survey will say they will send off a couple of little bangs to scare them away. It doesn't really matter how they mitigate this, there is going to be impact to cetaceans like the whales and dolphins.
“We have some incredible ecosystems that we have discovered in that region. The potential impact is enormous.”
Ntsindiso Nongcavu, chair of Coastal Links SA in the Eastern Cape — which protects the rights of small-scale fishermen, said Shell’s plans have caused concern and anger.
“Our fear is that when a blast is done, some of the marine life will move away from the area. We normally catch crayfish, rock lobster, prawns, catfish and mussels.”
Shell told the Sunday Times it had followed the consultation process, including a series of face-to-face engagements with interested and affected groups, as well as meetings with provincial environmental authorities and traditional authorities. It said environmental authorisation from the government was obtained in 2014.
“An environmental compliance audit was undertaken in 2020 by independent specialists to confirm that the controls and mitigation measures ... were still sufficient and valid.”
Shell said it adopted stringent controls and followed international best practice from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee guidelines for conducting seismic operations.
“If any animal enters the [500m] exclusion zone operations are immediately shut down,” the company said.
Department of forestry, fisheries & the environment spokesperson Albie Modise said neither the department nor Creecy were involved in the decision-making process in 2013.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.