Page 9 - AfrOil Week 45 2021

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

Sasol Secunda Chemical Operations plant (Photo: Sasol)

Sasol said its 2030 target will be delivered at environmental data tracker Global Climate
through the direct decarbonisation of its exist- Insights.
ing assets — through a mix of energy and pro- Also, Fossil Free asserted that Sasol had a
cess efficiencies and investments in renewables, social duty to be ambitious because it is based
as well as a shift to incremental natural gas as in one of the world’s most climate-vulnera-
a transition feedstock for its Southern African ble regions. South Africa ought to be far more
value chain. ambitious than the Paris climate agreement and
On the face of it, the announcement seems not just barely match it, the group commented,
like a big step forward for Sasol, Fossil Free adding that the country’s new targets, although
noted in its analysis. But a deeper examination ambitious, were not adequate.
shows that Sasol is simply not doing enough, it Fossil Free also expressed concern that Sasol’s
argued. Alignment with the Paris climate agree- plans were heavily reliant on expanded use of
ment demands substantial capex and emissions natural gas, which would compound climate
reductions before 2030, but Sasol plans most destruction. Gas, as a fossil fuel, is not a climate
of its decarbonisation capex for after 2030, it solution, it declared. “For Sasol’s targets and pol-
explained. icy to be credible, it needs to increase ambition,
The organisation further noted that Sasol bring forward capex, acknowledge that fossil gas
had a track record of missing its own emis- is not a climate solution, start listening to share-
sions reduction targets. “Its regulatory per- holders and stakeholders, and demonstrate that
formance and past record in environmental it is capable of meeting targets as well as of set-
compliance have been poor,” observed analysts ting them,” it said. ™

Friends of the Earth takes UKEF to

court over Mozambique LNG loan

MOZAMBIQUE FRIENDS of the Earth, an international envi- plan to make credits available to Mozambique
ronmental advocacy group, has taken legal LNG through UKEF. The British court system
action in the British court system in a bid to has taken up the review, and the High Court in
prevent the UK Export Finance (UKEF) agency London is now scheduled to hold hearings on
from providing financial support to the Mozam- the matter on December 7-9.
bique LNG project. Tony Bosworth, a climate and energy cam-
The British government had said last year paigner for Friends of the Earth, told the Lusa
that it was ready to lend up to GBP1.15bn news agency last week that he believed UKEF
($1.55bn) to the Mozambique LNG consor- ought to focus on renewable energy rather than
tium, which is led by TotalEnergies (France), fossil fuel-based projects such as Mozambique
via UKEF. However, Friends of the Earth has LNG.
argued that this pledge should be illegal, in light “We believe that the transition should be to
of the UK’s participation in the Paris Agreement, renewables,” he asserted. “That is where the UK
which mandates cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) should put its support and money, ensuring that
emissions. countries like Mozambique make the leap over
To this end, the non-government organisa- gas and go straight to renewables to meet envi-
tion (NGO) has initiated a judicial review of the ronmental targets.”

Week 45 10•November•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9