The Bloom association which works for the preservation of the oceans and the South African NGO The Green Connection clearly opposed, Monday during a press briefing, a request for a license to operate two gas blocks on the coast. East of South Africa, sent on September 5 by TotalEnergies to the South African authorities.
The two NGOs intend to prevent this project given its impact not only on biodiversity, but also on local communities, and particularly fishermen who would not have been consulted beforehand.
According to the president of the Bloom association, Claire Nouvian, “the establishment of TotalEnergies off the coast of South Africa, in hostile and deep waters, could create a precedent”.
She explained that “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,” she said, concluding that “it is therefore strictly fundamental to prevent Total from obtaining this first permit.
Green Connection Strategy Director Liziwe McDaid noted that “for fishers, there is no benefit to be gained from such a project. The profits are for Total, but it is the local communities that will bear the brunt of the consequences”.
The press conference recorded the presence of some MEPs and activists supporting the initiative of the two associations. Activist Camille Étienne felt that the TotalÉnergies project “is not just another climate bomb”, but “it is about opening the way to an incalculable number of climate bombs”.
The two gas fields requested by the French hydrocarbon giant are buried more than 1,000 meters deep, in an area with exceptionally rich and diversified marine life. TotalÉnergies is preparing to invest three billion dollars in this gas exploitation project from which it hopes to extract up to one billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Bloom has launched a petition in which she asks the CEO of Total, Patrick Pouyanné, to “urgently” abandon his “climaticide project which will accelerate the collapse of biodiversity”.
“Mr. Pouyanné, if you persist in your morbid obsession with record profits, if you persist in your anti-ecological blindness, we will organize citizen resistance to prevent you from disrupting the climate, destroying nature, annihilating our future and sacrificing the youth. To destroy the ocean is to condemn us collectively. We won’t let you,” the petition concludes.
By OMA Newsletter N° 900 of 18/10/2022
Article published under the direction of Dr. Najib Kettani
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
