The Western Cape High Court has cancelled the approval for TotalEnergies’ offshore oil and gas exploration project between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas.
This after the company submitted an environmental report to the court following a challenge by environmentalists.
According to the court, the report was flawed and didn’t properly involve the public.
Judge Nobahle Mangcu-Lockwood said TotalEnergies failed to consider the economic damage an oil spill could cause to coastal communities.
Mangcu-Lockwood further said the report also ignored climate change. It also didn’t follow rules for protecting public coastal areas. She called the public participation process unfair. And she noted that there was no input sought on plans for handling oil spills or blowouts.
National Environmental Management Act
“It is one of the foundational principles of [the National Environmental Management Act] that the participation of all interested and affected parties must be promoted. And they must be provided with a reasonable opportunity to influence the outcome of the decision at hand,” the judge said.
TotalEnergies, along with Shell and PetroSA, holds exploration rights for the area, known as block 5/6/7. Shell was also part of the court case.
The court gave TotalEnergies a chance to submit a new or updated environmental report to fix these issues. But they must hold a new public participation process. TotalEnergies announced it was pulling out of its 40% share in this block. However, the court said this doesn’t change the project’s environmental approval.
TotalEnergies is still pursuing other offshore projects. They include one in the Deep Water Orange Basin off the West Coast, which is also facing legal challenges. They argue that natural gas projects don’t fit with South Africa’s goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The company has also taken over other offshore areas. These include Block 3B/4B and Outeniqua South in the Western Cape.
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