United Nations’ support for a Limpopo coal and steel plant must be withdrawn as it contravenes green and human rights, say petition signatories
Civil society groups have sent an open letter to the United Nations Development Programme calling on it to retract a memorandum of understanding (MoU) it recently signed with the controversial Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ), a coal and steel-based Chinese-South African industrial megaproject in Limpopo.
In the letter to Dr Ayodele Odusola, the resident representative for the UN Development Propgramme South Africa, the signatories register their “deep concern” at the UNDP’s public endorsement of the “unsustainable coal-dependent MMSEZ”.
The MMSEZ contradicts UNDP principles, according to the letter, which calls on the UNDP to officially communicate the memorandum’s retraction.
“The MoU between UNDP and MMSEZ contributes to the momentum of a dangerous project by enabling project proponents and contractors to sell the project as having the backing of a body of the UNDP’s prestige, regardless of the nuances of an MoU being non-binding.”
More than a dozen prominent environmental groups signed the letter, as did academics, in the form of Dr Victor Munnik and Professor Patrick Bond of Wits University and Professor Lisa Thompson of the University of the Western Cape.
In March, the UNDP and the MMSEZ announced they had signed a memorandum to “tackle South Africa’s triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment by providing support to MMSEZ”.
This would be done, they said, via technical support and expertise; capacity building and skills development; research and innovation; solutions for sustainable development; knowledge advancement; attracting foreign investment and investors and facilitating partnerships to address developmental needs.
The letter’s authors contend, however, in light of the climate crisis, the MMSEZ contravenes environmental and human rights standards.
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects that limiting the global temperature increase to the critical 1.5°C threshold requires a reduction in carbon emissions by around 45% of 2010 levels by 2030 and net-zero by 2050.
“We would therefore not expect the UNDP to endorse or support in any manner projects that would frustrate this critical goal and risk contravening the Paris Agreement, which commits parties to the objective of limiting the global average temperature increase to well below 2°C with the aim of limiting it to 1.5°C.”
The MMSEZ, they wrote, directly contravenes the goal of climate resiliency through high greenhouse gas emissions, which will “disallow” South Africa from meeting its greenhouse gas mitigation obligations under the Paris Agreement. It would also increase water insecurity in the region, where ground and surface water are already in short supply.
The MMSEZ project is expected to generate approximately one-billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in direct and indirect energy emissions over its lifetime. It could contribute 10% to 14% of South Africa’s carbon budget under the 2°C global reduction target and as much as 16% to 24% under a 1.5°C target.
The estimated greenhouse gas emissions, as per its environmental impact assessment report, suggests 30 to 50 megatonnes per annum — depending on whether the coal-fired power plant proceeds — which is equivalent to about 10% of South Africa’s total emissions from all sectors combined at present.
The current plans to source the estimated 125-million cubic metres of water needed annually for the zone’s operation have not been assessed for feasibility, legal compliance or environmental impact.
The letter details how the plan is to syphon groundwater, at the site of the zone, which is surrounded by vulnerable rural communities, and from the Limpopo River’s alluvial aquifer.
This is until a planned “off channel” megadam is built close to the north site of the MMSEZ to capture up to 60% of the Limpopo River’s annual flow, supplemented by a scheme to pump 30Mm3 annually from Zimbabwe’s Tokwe-Mukosi and Zhove dams.
The signatories said the approved environmental authorisation only covered specific vegetation clearance and the transformation of land to secure the site for future development. Such small approvals for a megaproject was allowing approval via the back door and incentivised “the creation of facts on the ground that make the project increasingly irreversible”.
Odusola said the collaboration supported the sustainability of the Special Economic Zone for the prosperity of the Musina-Makhado communities.
“We aim to exercise our convening power to bring in all the key and relevant actors to help advance MMSEZ’s mandate through promoting shared prosperity, environmental sustainability, social advancement and innovation.”
MMSEZ chief executive Lehlogonolo Masoga said the memorandum “represents a significant milestone in creating a framework for collaboration and the development of an annual work plan that will put into effect activities and resources in our endeavours in clean energy, sustainable economic growth through skills development and enterprise development, among others”.
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