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Category: Pollution

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In Cameroon, pollution from petroleum products fell from 1.28% in 2021 to 0.94% on 30 September 2022, a reduction of 0.34% in one year. According to the Cameroonian Ministry of Water and Energy, this reduction in oil pollution is one of the benefits of the Chemical Marking of Petroleum Products Programme. 

Implemented in Cameroon since 2012, the Chemical Marking Programme for petroleum products continues to delight the Cameroonian authorities. In a recent release, the Cameroonian Ministry of Water and Energy (MINEE) states that « the Chemical Marking Programme for petroleum products has made it possible to reduce the pollution rate from 1.28% in 2021 to 0.94% on 30 September 2022 », a reduction of 0.34% in one year. 

According to the Cameroonian company Hydrocarbures, analyses et contrôles (HYDRAC), a subsidiary of the Société nationale des hydrocarbures (SNH), the chemical marking of petroleum products consists of introducing minute quantities of markers or tracers into petroleum products, depending on their taxation and destination. Repeated spot checks are then carried out in the field using appropriate equipment, enabling all forms of fraud to be detected almost instantly. Mixing petroleum products with water or other incompatible substances.

The counterfeiting of petroleum products, in the field of fuels for example, increases the toxicity and the volumes of escaping gases in vehicles. These gases attack not only the ozone layer, but also the respiratory system of humans and other aerobic organisms (which can only thrive in the presence of air or oxygen). 

61 million a year in benefits

In addition to the environmental benefits, chemical marking of petroleum products also contributes to the Cameroonian economy.

The Minee indicates that this programme has contributed to the fight against oil product fraud through the intensification of controls throughout the national territory and more specifically along the roads. More than 1.25 million litres of fraudulent products were seized in the first half of 2022.

« Fraud in petroleum products has fallen from 36% to less than 2% and the increase in fiscal gains for the state in this sector amounts to 40 billion CFA francs, or about 61 million euros per year. There is also the preservation of vehicle engines and other production tools, » says David Ekoume, the director general of Hydrac.

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Des militants pour le climat d’Afrique subsaharienne se sont réunis le 16 novembre 2022 à Charm el-Sheikh, pour répondre à la ruée vers les combustibles fossiles des dirigeants africains à la 27e Conférence des Nations unies sur le climat (COP27).

Les organisations de la société civile et les militants internationaux, panafricains et nationaux sont consternés par la menace d’étouffer les communautés et les économies dans une production accrue de pétrole et de gaz pour les décennies à venir. Avant la clôture officielle des négociations sur le climat à Charm el-Cheikh, des militants africains ont pris la parole lors d’une conférence de presse le 16 novembre 2022, pour affirmer leur consternation face à la poursuite de la production des combustibles fossiles sur le continent.

Pour les organisationsde protection de la nature Safe Lamu, Stop EACOP, Fridays for future, Powershift Africa, le Mouvement des jeunes pour la protection de l’environnement en République démocratique du Congo (RDC) et Greenpeace Afrique, certains dirigeants africains ont utilisé la 27e Conférence des Nations unies sur le climat (COP27), surnommée « la COP africaine », pour saper les objectifs de l’Accord de Paris sur le climat en poussant à la conclusion de nouveaux accords sur les combustibles fossiles au détriment des populations et du continent.  Au-delà de l’expression de demandes collectives concernant un accord sur un mécanisme de financement dédié aux pertes et dommages et de la demande aux nations les plus riches de respecter leurs engagements climatiques en matière d’adaptation et d’atténuation, des délégations africaines ont profité de la conférence pour se rallier à la nouvelle ruée vers le pétrole et le gaz sur le continent.

Le projet Eacop en Afrique de l’Est

« Eacop, le projet franco-chinois d’oléoduc de pétrole brut en Afrique de l’Est est un exemple clair d’exploitation coloniale en Afrique et dans tous les pays du Sud. Avec 1444 km allant de l’Ouganda à la Tanzanie, il deviendrait le plus long oléoduc chauffé du monde, libérant 34 millions de tonnes métriques de CO2 par an, accélérant  substantiellement  la rupture climatique. », dénonce Patience Nabukalu, militante ougandaise de Stop EACOP et de Fridays for Future.

Le projet de construction d’une centrale à charbon à Lamu, sur la côte nord du Kenya, fait également partie des projets décriés par ces activistes africains présents à la COP27.

« L’industrie des combustibles fossiles a dégradé nos peuples, nos terres, nos océans et notre air. Trop c’est trop. Peu importe le nombre d’accords qu’ils signent, le nombre de pots-de-vin qu’ils versent, ou les costumes fantaisistes qu’ils portent : nous les attendons dans nos communautés, nous les attendons sur les lignes de front. Nous ne nous arrêterons pas tant que nous n’aurons pas assisté à une transition complète vers des énergies propres et renouvelables. », promet Mbong Akiy, responsable de la communication de Greenpeace Afrique.

Ces projets vont à l’encontre des recommandations du Groupe d’experts intergouvernemental sur l’évolution du climat (Giec), selon lequel les infrastructures de combustibles fossiles existantes sont déjà suffisantes pour dépasser la limite de 1,5°C, et de l’Agence internationale de l’énergie (AIE), selon laquelle aucun nouveau gisement de pétrole et de gaz dont l’exploitation a été approuvée n’est compatible avec la trajectoire vers 1,5°C.

Pour parvenir à un résultat significatif en Égypte, « les délégués doivent écouter les populations africaines et non le secteur des combustibles fossiles, et s’engager collectivement à éliminer progressivement tous les combustibles fossiles, refléter cet engagement dans la décision relative à la couverture et accepter la création d’un mécanisme de financement des pertes et dommages », préconisent les défenseurs de la nature. 

Boris Ngounou

More than 330 companies published a « COP15 Business Statement » on 25 October 2022. The document calls for mandatory assessment and disclosure of risks and impacts on nature by large companies and financial institutions. The aim is to halt the erosion of biodiversity and move towards regeneration.

In the final push for a new global nature agreement at the 15th UN Conference on Biodiversity (COP15) in Montreal from 7-19 December 2022, more than 330 business and financial institutions are urging world leaders to go beyond voluntary action, transform the economic rules of the game, and demand that companies act now to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.

The companies, with combined revenues of more than US$1.5 trillion, are expressing their demands in a document called the COP15 Business Statement. The document calls for mandatory assessment and disclosure of risks and impacts on nature by large companies and financial institutions. The aim is to « halt the loss of biodiversity and move towards recovery », the statement says.

The document stresses that if the assessment and disclosure of nature risks and impacts were mandatory, it would help create fairer competition for companies, increase accountability, engage investors and consumers, help SMEs minimise their dependence on nature through supply chains and help secure the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.

The signatories of the ‘COP15 Business Statement’ highlight how economically shortsighted it is for governments, companies and financial institutions to be unaware of their impacts and dependencies on nature. The shift to a nature-positive economy will create nearly 400 million jobs and $10 trillion in annual business value by 2030.

Fanta Mabo

The Bloom association for the protection of the oceans and the South African non-governmental organization (NGO) The Green Connection launched a campaign in Paris on Monday 17 October 2022 against a major gas project by TotalEnergies. According to the two conservation organizations, this project would threaten biodiversity.

TotalEnergies, a French oil company, is preparing to drill at a depth of 1,700 meters to reach two major gas fields in the Brulpadda area, located 175 km off the South African coast. But for nature conservationists, this project will have an impact on marine life. The drilling will be carried out on the migration route of large cetaceans such as whales and orcas.

To obtain the cancellation of this project, the association Bloom for the protection of the oceans, and the South African non-governmental organization (NGO) The Green Connection, launched an international petition on October 17, 2022 in Paris, France. « They know that these are complicated waters with a risk of oil spills, » warns Swann Bommier, Bloom’s Advocacy and Campaigns Officer.

« It’s a spectacular place from a biodiversity point of view, which is on the migration route of whales and sperm whales. It is also a living environment for dolphins, leatherback turtles and seals », defends the president of Bloom, Claire Nouvian.

Reducing dependence on coal

TotalEnergies has already carried out exploration drilling, with a platform to determine the extent of the reserves. And on September 5, 2022, the group filed an application for a production license to exploit the two major gas deposits discovered, which may contain up to one billion barrels of oil equivalent.

Faced with challenges from environmental NGOs, the French company claims that this new project will benefit South Africa. According to the company, it will replace coal (which made up 73.2% of South Africa’s energy mix in 2018, according to official figures) with gas, which is less polluting. But this argument is dismissed out of hand by environmental advocates. « Gas is not a transitional energy, we must stop the greenwashing, » retorts the Green MEP Karima Delli.

According to the two protesting organizations, the South African authorities should decide on the exploitation license requested by TotalEnergies, at the end of a public inquiry scheduled until January 20, 2023.

Fanta Mabo

Environmentalists do not understand why Egypt, the host country of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), has chosen the beverage brand Coca-Cola as the event’s sponsor. The American company is said to be the world’s biggest plastic polluter, producing 120 billion disposable plastic bottles per year. 

The 27th United Nations Climate Conference (COP27), which takes place from 6 to 18 November 2022 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. This major meeting for governments, businesses and environmental groups, which aims to stop global warming, is sponsored by the Coca-Cola brand. But for environmental activists, Coca-Cola’s sponsorship is « another example of corporate greenwashing ».

« Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of COP27 is pure greenwashing. Over four years, in our annual corporate surveys, we found that Coca-Cola was the world’s biggest plastic polluter. It is astonishing that a company with such strong ties to the fossil fuel industries is allowed to sponsor such a crucial climate meeting, » says Emma Priestland of Break Free From Plastic, an international organisation that fights plastic pollution.

Almost 99% of plastics are made from fossil fuels

For the environmental organisation Greenpeace, Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of COP27 is « incomprehensible ». « Coca-Cola produces 120 billion disposable plastic bottles a year, and 99% of plastics are made from fossil fuels, adding to the plastic and climate crisis. If Coca-Cola really wants to solve the plastic and climate crisis, it needs to turn off its plastic tap. End Coca-Cola’s reliance on single-use plastic, » says John Hocevar, Greenpeace USA’s Oceans Campaigner.

A petition to remove Coca-Cola from the list of COP27 sponsors has been launched by Georgia Elliott-Smith, a climate activist who attended COP26 in Glasgow. As of 8 October 2022, the petition had already been signed by 67,826 people, out of a target of 75,000.

This wave of anti-Coca-Cola protest began on 28 September 2022 when the Egyptian government announced the partnership with the brand, welcoming the « shared opportunities for communities and people around the world and in Egypt ». For its part, Coca-Cola says it wants to « do its part » to meet the challenge of « eliminating waste in the ocean ». And the American soft drink giant has been multiplying initiatives to fight plastic pollution in Africa in recent years. From Kisumu in Kenya to Lagos in Nigeria and the Ugandan capital Kampala, Coca-Cola supports initiatives to collect and recycle plastic waste through start-ups and local authorities.

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