Environmentalists protest at African Energy Week in Cape Town

Climate activists picketed outside the African Energy Week conference in Cape Town, South Africa, on Tuesday, calling for an end to new oil and gas exploration across the continent and accusing energy companies of prioritising profits over people and the environment.

Greenpeace Africa and Extinction Rebellion campaigners challenged efforts to position Africa as a new frontier for fossil fuel development, arguing that further investment would worsen climate change and threaten communities already grappling with its effects.

“Oil companies from overseas have made billions in profits this year alone at the expense of people’s lives, at the expense of ecosystems, at the expense of African lives,” Siya Myeza, a climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace Africa, told The Associated Press.

Myeza branded the gathering “Africa Exploitation Week,” accusing the industry of driving environmental destruction and poverty. Police removed the protesters, who wore T-shirts bearing the slogan “Make polluters pay.”

The protests come as South Africa seeks to expand oil and gas development to attract investment and bolster energy security. The government presents natural gas as a complement to renewable energy, saying gas-fired plants could provide electricity when wind and solar output drops.

Despite legal setbacks, British energy giant Shell plans to drill up to five deepwater wells in the Northern Cape Ultra Deep block off South Africa’s west coast to explore for and assess oil and gas deposits. The project’s environmental approval has drawn appeals.

Protesters say such plans risk prolonging dependence on fossil fuels at a time when countries should be cutting emissions.

Judy Scott-Goldman, a representative of Extinction Rebellion in Cape Town, acknowledged that renewable energy would feature at the conference but said campaigners opposed promoting new oil and gas exploration.

She said expanding fossil fuel use would run counter to commitments under the Paris climate agreement to reduce emissions.

“We’re here to say we don’t want to see any exploration of oil and gas on this continent,” she told the AP.

She pointed to fires, floods and rising food prices as consequences of climate change, warning that its effects could also drive migration and social unrest.