Faith communities have expressed their disapproval of Shell’s planned seismic survey off the Wild Coast.
In an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa, penned on international Human Rights Day on December 10 by the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI), on behalf of its faith members, the faith leaders said they also disapproved of the government’s ongoing pursuit of an economy driven by fossil fuels.
The letter, dated December 13, is titled: “The people of faith oppose Shell. Environmental rights are human rights. When you violate nature, you violate the people.”
Cele Esau, a Christian faith leader from the Cape Town Unitarian community, stated: “COP26 has just finished and here SA — the 12th-biggest emitter of carbon, globally — allows Shell to conduct potentially-harmful seismic testing, in search of more greenhouse gas-emitting oil and gas.
“How can this be when the company was just recently ordered to ‘slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 compared with 2019 levels’?
“As a global force, Shell already has a disturbing track record of environmental and societal damage, and we refuse to allow the company to repeat its numerous atrocities here.”
Esau said the letter — sent to the departments of mineral resources & energy and forestry, fisheries & the environment — “demonstrates that many people have become more aware of what government and industry are doing to the environment, in the name of economic development”.
“People want to know how these decisions will impact on climate change and, in turn, what impact this will have on their wellbeing and livelihoods.”
In this climate emergency, oil and gas will be a game-changer of the worst kind, threatening the livelihoods of many indigenous and marginalised peoples
Faith activist Lydia Petersen said: “In this climate emergency, oil and gas will be a game-changer of the worst kind, threatening the livelihoods of many indigenous and marginalised peoples.
“It is incredibly frustrating that our government insists on wasting precious time with outdated fossil fuels, when it should be spending far more of its efforts on uplifting our people, through the just transition to cleaner, more sustainable sources of energy.
“This year’s human rights’ theme is reducing inequalities and advancing human rights, but we do not believe that our government, particularly these two departments, is living up to this requirement.
“It feels very calculated that Shell’s potentially harmful seismic surveys are going ahead at a time when everyone is trying to wind down from a particularly challenging year, and as we face the fourth wave of Covid-19.
“Why has this new threat been hidden from us, and never publicly aired, until now?
“It makes us wonder if the climate commitments at COP26 really happened.
The Hague found that this mega-polluter and human rights violator should pay for its crimes. But what value can be attached to human life, and to all of life?
“The Hague found that this mega-polluter and human rights violator should pay for its crimes.
“But what value can be attached to human life, and to all of life?
“Our voices cannot remain silent. We will not stand by and see creation defiled by greed.”
SAFCEI’s executive director, Francesca de Gasparis, said the multifaith eco-justice organisation was driven by its respect for all living things.
“Especially in the face of the intensifying climate emergency, the pursuit of economic development should not come at the cost of the people nor the environment.
“And it cannot be that some people’s rights are seen as more important than others.
“Communities on the Wild Coast and other coastal areas have every right to be concerned about what is happening in the ocean off their coastlines.
“This is a resource that belongs to us all and if governments are making decisions that may lead to its devastation, then we have the moral imperative to speak out.
“In addition to the current seismic situation with Shell, there are other applications on both sides of SA’s coastlines that have been earmarked for exploration.
“Shortly, an application by CGG Services for a reconnaissance permit — for the area located off the southeast coast of SA, ranging from Gqeberha to a point about 120km southeast of Plettenberg Bay [the Algoa, Gamtoos and Outeniqua Basins] — which will also include further seismic surveys.
“As people of faith, representative of various beliefs, we all have to care for the Earth as one of our most fundamental tenets.
“When we are faced with our government choosing a model for energy which hurts the people and/or the environment, as well as being unaffordable, we are compelled to speak up.
“We cannot be complicit in ecocide!
“Hands off our oceans!” proclaimed the letter.
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