Africa-Press – Angola. The Minuto Verde Association – Quercus Angola expressed “deep concern” about the agreement signed between the Angolan authorities and the Canadian company ReconAfrica for oil exploration in the Etosha-Okavango Basin, calling for “temporary suspension” of the agreement for an independent environmental study.
According to the president of the non-governmental organization for the defense and protection of the environment in Angola, Rafael Lucas, the country’s development cannot be dissociated from environmental sustainability and Angola’s future must be built based on a green economy.
A “resilient and inclusive economy, thus prioritizing renewable energy sources and investment that truly respect the environment and the rights of local populations,” the official told Lusa today.
“We want to recommend here [to the authorities] that they take into consideration certain elements such as the temporary suspension of the agreement until a rigorous, independent and participatory environmental impact study is carried out,” he stressed.
Rafael Lucas argued that, at a local level, a monitoring group should also be created with representatives of environmental organizations, civil society, local communities and environmental authorities “to monitor all phases of the process”.
Angola’s National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Canada’s ReconAfrica for hydrocarbon exploration in a 5.2 million-acre area of the Etosha-Okavango basin.
The agreement signed last week represents a strategic entry by the Canadian company into Angola and complements the operations that Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica) has underway in the Okavango region, in the Kalahari Desert, where it holds oil exploration licenses in Botswana and Namibia, where it already explores 6.3 million acres. Rafael Lucas also expressed “deep concern” about the signing of the aforementioned agreement, recalling that the Okavango Basin includes provinces of high ecological sensitivity, namely Cunene, Cuando, Cubango and Moxico.
He highlighted that the region is internationally recognized for its biodiversity and ecological role in the region’s water balance and for integrating protected areas, with species threatened with extinction: “It is in fact a fragile ecosystem that sustains not only wildlife”, but also “local communities that depend directly on nature for their subsistence, culture and identity”.
Although the ANPG claims that hydrocarbon exploration activities will be carried out “in accordance with national and international environmental standards”, it noted, global experiences show that oil exploration in environmentally sensitive regions “often triggers irreversible impacts on the environment”.
ReconAfrica will have an 80% stake in the area covered by the memorandum of understanding, in the onshore Etosha-Okavango basin, located in southwest Angola, and Sonangol will have a 20% stake, with the Canadian company being granted exclusive rights for a period of 24 months.
For the president of Minuto Verde Angola, the aforementioned exclusivity granted to ReconAfrica and the “absence of guarantees, especially in transparent environmental impact assessment processes and in-depth public consultations with local communities, reinforce the need for extreme caution”.
He considered, on the other hand, that the promise of local development, through oil, “in fact lacks sustainable bases if the environmental costs are greater than the economic gains”.
The environmentalist concluded his speech by appealing to the Angolan authorities to choose the path of progress that respects the limits of the planet and human dignity, considering that “it is time to transform Angola into a reference for sustainable development for Africa and the world”.
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