On March 10, Stephanie Booker and Aino Cantell of Natural
Justice attended a roundtable discussion in Cape Town hosted by the South
African Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office, themed The First Frack is the
Deepest: A Deeper Look at Hydraulic Fracturing in South Africa.
The roundtable brought together over 30 participants,
including members of civil society, journalists, and Members of Parliament.
Speakers included Mr Jonathan Deal, CEO of Treasure the Karoo Action Group
(TKAG), Dr Julia Schünemann, senior researcher at the Institute for Security
Studies (ISS), and Mr Niall Kramer from Shell South Africa.
The key objective of the roundtable was to discuss the
potential dangers and benefits that fracking may bring to South Africa, given
national discussions about exploring what is believed to be the eighth largest
reserve of shale gas in the world. Speakers highlighted the country’s current
dependency on local coal production for energy (South Africa are one of the
largest producers in the world) – with the potential for fracking or renewable
energies providing an alternative for excessive coal reliance.
Speakers for TKAG and ISS pointed out the many risks of
fracking and insisted on the inherent uncertainties regarding the environmental, social and
economic impacts of such activities. In spite of the potential economic
benefits of fracking, the potential health costs, social and cultural impacts
and environmental contamination could undoubtedly cast a shadow over any
optimistic prognoses. The job prospects offered by shale gas extraction were
also much debated, as well as impacts on local water supplies. The speaker for
Shell discussed the potential benefits that such activities may create.
It was a vibrant and engaging discussion between civil
society, researchers and company.
No comments:
Post a Comment