Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Natural Justice attends Fracking Lecture at University of Western Cape

On 26 August 2013, Stephanie Booker and Lesle Jansen of Natural Justice attending a lecture entitled: “Fracking: Towards a Promised Land or a Broken Promise” presented by Ralhus, a project of the Faculty of Law of the University of Western Cape.

A Fracking billboard at the lecture
Three guest lecturers, Professor Jan Glazewski of the Institute of Marine and Environmental Law at the University of Cape Town, Jonathon Deal from Treasure the Karoo Action Group and Matt Ash of Norton Rose Fulbright, presented on various topics within the current fracking debate in South Africa.  Presentations included taking a precautionary and principled approach towards fracking within the South African legal framework, whether the efficacy of shale gas mining for South Africa has been sufficiently proven to permit exploration and an analysis of facts on shale gas and hydraulic fracturing.

Presentations were followed by a lively panel discussion of the different viewpoints within the fracking debate in South Africa, considering South Africa’s current energy requirements, the need for a strategic environmental assessment and actual potential for community inclusion in future employment and benefit sharing.

No comments: