136 - Protecting the Okavango from oil and gas exploitation

136 - Protecting the Okavango from oil and gas exploitation

Latest version in this language: Version as sent to Plenary | Published on: 04 Oct 2021

RECOGNISING that the Working Group 1 contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that human influence due primarily to fossil fuels has warmed the atmosphere, oceans and land and that many changes due to past and future greenhouse gas emissions are irreversible for centuries to millennia;

RECALLING that the International Energy Agency (IEA) has stated that “[N]o new oil and natural gas fields are needed in the net zero pathway [...]”;

RECOGNISING that the Okavango Delta is a UNESCO World Heritage site, the world’s largest Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention, and part of the five-nation Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA);

NOTING the ecosystem diversity of the Okavango region and the KAZA TFCA, which is home to many indigenous peoples and other local communities, as well as many endangered species of fauna and flora;

RECOGNISING that the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights guarantees the rights to a healthy environment and free, prior and informed consent (FPIC);

RECALLING Recommendation 6.102 Protected areas and other areas important for biodiversity in relation to environmentally damaging industrial activities and infrastructure development (Hawai‘i, 2016) in which Members recognised protected areas as no-go zones for industrial activities, including oil and gas exploitation;

ACKNOWLEDGING the decisions of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) that environmentally damaging industrial activities and infrastructure developments are incompatible with World Heritage status and that states should avoid negative impacts on World Heritage sites from such activities outside their boundaries (e.g. Decisions 39 COM 7A.4 and 34 COM 7A.2); and

RECALLING Decision 44 COM 7B.80 of the World Heritage Committee: “[E]xpress concern about the granting of oil exploration licenses in environmentally sensitive areas within the Okavango river basin [...]” and “[U]rge … States Parties … to ensure that potential further steps to develop the oil project … are subject to rigorous and critical prior review, including through Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that corresponds to international standards […]”;

The IUCN World Conservation Congress, at its session in Marseille, France:

1. URGES all Member States to ensure that human rights and other international law obligations are a primary consideration in all policies and decisions regarding oil and gas exploration and development, and other extractive activities;

2. URGES all Member States to ensure that decisions regarding oil and gas exploration and development and other extractive activities respect the right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and that consent processes include comprehensive consultation on the adverse impacts of climate change, the impacts of the proposed activities on the climate, and risks to water resources, flora and fauna, forests, food security, livelihoods and culture, inter alia; and

3. CALLS ON the governments of Botswana and Namibia to ensure, in line with Decision 44 COM 7B.80 of the World Heritage Committee, that strategic and comprehensive environmental impact assessments adhere to international standards, are subject to rigorous and critical prior review and are conducted prior to any further exploration and any future development of oil and gas resources and other extractive activities in and/or affecting the Okavango River basin and its people.

Namibia and Botswana have issued petroleum licences to a Canadian company for oil and gas exploration in the Okavango region, which could lead to an initial 25-year production license after a commercial discovery. In Namibia, exploration is ongoing; a seismic survey is underway, initial stratigraphic wells have been drilled and more are planned later this year. Exploration in Botswana is slated to begin after initial drilling in Namibia.

The license area spans the Namibia-Botswana border, covering over 8 million acres, including highly ecologically sensitive and arid zones. The licenced areas border the Okavango River, which flows into the Okavango Delta. Local community members, experts, and the World Heritage Committee have expressed concern about the project’s potential impacts on water, including loss of local community access to water sources, contamination of those sources, and whether there will be negative impacts on the Okavango River system including the Okavango Delta.

Both licences encompass land historically and traditionally occupied by San communities and other Indigenous Peoples. Oil and gas exploration and production in this area, with its accompanying environmental harm and displacement, among other impacts, could jeopardize Indigenous Peoples’ health, ways of life, cultures, and livelihoods, and wildlife in the area. Local groups and experts have expressed concerns over the environmental impact assessments done to date (one for the initial drilling and one for the 2D seismic survey), noting deficiencies in public consultation and in the analysis. In July 2021, over 100 organizations, including Namibian, regional, and international groups, called for the suspension of oil and gas drilling.

Both the World Heritage Committee and the IUCN have previously expressed concerns about these oil and gas activities. The “Analysis and Conclusions of the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies,” accompanying Draft Decision 44 COM 7B.80 of the World Heritage Committee, provides that “the IUCN and the World Heritage Centre identified some gaps and concerns with the EIA, such as the need for a more detailed spatial distribution assessment of species and to ascertain the connectivity of the ecosystems.” The issue has also garnered the attention of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which asked Namibia to address the impacts of oil and gas exploration and development in the Okavango on women and girls as part of its next periodic report.

Namibia and Botswana are already threatened by climate change, the adverse effects of which will both compound and be compounded by the impacts of oil and gas development on water resources, the local environment, and global warming. The UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council have recognized that climate change is an immediate and urgent global priority (e.g., UN GA Res. 74/219; HRC Res. A/HRC/47/L.19). UN human rights treaty bodies also have recognized that climate change is among “the most pressing and serious threats to the ability of present and future generations to enjoy the right to life,” and called on States to “effectively contribute to phasing out fossil fuels” (CCPR/C/GC/36; Joint Statement on “Human Rights and Climate Change”).
  • Asociación Rescate y Conservación de Vida Silvestre [Guatemala]
  • Association Les Amis des Oiseaux [Tunisia]
  • Association Marocaine pour la Protection de l`Environnement et le Climat [Morocco]
  • BirdLife South Africa [South Africa]
  • BirdLife Zimbabwe [Zimbabwe]
  • Center for Biological Diversity [United States of America]
  • Conservation X Labs, Inc. [United States of America]
  • Fundación Biodiversidad [Argentina]
  • Gallifrey Foundation [Switzerland]
  • Groupe de Recherche et d'Action pour le Bien-Être au Bénin [Benin]
  • N/a'an ku se Foundation [Namibia]
  • Namibia Nature Foundation [Namibia]
  • Namibian Chamber of Environment [Namibia]
  • NamibRand Nature Reserve [Namibia]
  • Natural Resources Defense Council [United States of America]
  • Re:wild [United States of America]
  • Rede Nacional de Combate ao Tráfico de Animais Silvestres [Brazil]
  • Royal Society for the Protection of Birds [United Kingdom]
  • SEO/BirdLife, Sociedad Española de Ornitología [Spain]
  • The Born Free Foundation [United Kingdom]
  • The WILD Foundation [United States of America]
  • Wilderness Foundation [South Africa]

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