Earlier this month the North Gauteng High Court made a landmark ruling in favour of non-profit organisation EarthLife Africa (ELA). This is South Africa’s first climate change lawsuit.1
The chief director of the Department of Environmental Affairs granted Thambametsi, a proposed 1200MW coal-fired power station in Limpopo, environmental approval. ELA then sought to appeal the Departments decision but the Minister of Environmental Affairs upheld the decision. The organisation challenged the Environmental Affairs Minister’s rejection of its appeal against the approval given to a proposed Thabametsi.2
ELA argued that the minister granted authorisation without proper consideration of the climate change impacts on the environment. They presented information that station would dramatically increase the greenhouse gasses to be released in an already ecologically vulnerable area. There was also no assessment of the impact of the coal-fired power station on the already strained water situation in the province. Water, an already scarce resource, will increase in scarcity due to the negative impact on climate change.3
The court ruled that these effects ought to have been considered when the minister made her decision. Judge John Murphy stated that the environmental affairs ministry must conduct a complete climate change assessment before construction of the plant can proceed. The Minister, Edna Molewa, must reconsider her decision, taking into account a full climate change impact assessment report, a paleontological impact report and all public comments received.4
Makoma Lekalakala of ELA says: “We welcome this judgement, which sends a strong message to government and to all developers proposing projects with potentially significant climate change impacts in South Africa that permission cannot be given for such projects unless the climate change impacts have been properly assessed. South Africa is a water-stressed country, and the Waterberg, where the power station would be located, is a particularly water-stressed area. Climate impacts are a big deal for communities and farmers who depend on the limited water available.”5
He continued “We now call upon the Minister to give full and proper consideration to Thabametsi’s climate change impacts – which the project’s environmental consultants have found will be significant – in making a decision on whether to uphold Earthlife’s appeal.”6
– Lauren Christie
1 Victory in SA’s first climate change court case! Centre for Environmental Rights 8 March 2017
2 Earthlife Africa Johannesburg v The minister of Environmental Affairs and others 2017 http://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Judgment-Earthlife-Thabametsi-Final-06-03-2017.pdf
3 Earthlife wins SA’s first climate change court case Fin24 News24 9 March 2017
4 First climate change court victory in SA Cape Times 8 March 2017
5 Note 1 as above.
6 Note 1 as above.