PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT NOT TO SIGN THE UPSTREAM PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT BILL, B13B – 2021 INTO LAW

The petition argues that the Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Bill (B13B – 2021) violates the South African Constitution and the One Environmental System (OES). It highlights the Bill's failure to provide adequate local economic development frameworks, its acceleration of fossil fuel extraction during a climate emergency, and its insufficient public participation and consultation processes. The petitioners urge the President to refer the Bill back to Parliament for redrafting to align with human rights and climate science.

• The Bill is argued to be in direct conflict with the One Environmental System (OES) and the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) by legislating on environmental matters that are the exclusive purview of the Minister for Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. The creation of a new 'petroleum right' is not identified as an activity under NEMA, meaning it may not require environmental authorisation or financial provisioning.
• The petitioners claim the Bill fails to ensure local economic development, replacing the Social and Labour Plan (SLP) framework found in the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) with 'local content plans' that are deemed inadequate. They note that funds for community development in the mining sector have historically been mismanaged, with one report indicating that only 0.9% of value generated by mines went toward community development between 2009 and 2018.
• The Bill is criticized for mandating the acceleration of oil and gas exploration and production through peremptory wording that removes the Minister's discretion to decline rights. The petitioners argue this is irrational given the climate emergency and the IPCC's warning that the global tipping point is 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• The document highlights the specific climate risks of gas extraction, noting that methane is 84x more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. It asserts that a leakage rate of 2.7% would cancel out any climate benefits gas has over coal, and that the energy sector accounted for 410MtCO2e of South Africa's 516MtCO2e total in 2017.
• The petition argues that the Bill's public participation and consultation provisions are inadequate and violate the right to fair administrative action. Specifically, it notes that consultation is not explicitly required when an application progresses from the exploration phase to the production phase.
• The petitioners advocate for the incorporation of the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) into the Bill's framework to protect indigenous peoples and local communities from the adverse impacts of extractive industries.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2024). PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT NOT TO SIGN THE UPSTREAM PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT BILL, B13B – 2021 INTO LAW. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/LAC-endorsed-Petition-to-President-Ramaphosa.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT NOT TO SIGN THE UPSTREAM PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT BILL, B13B – 2021 INTO LAW. 2024. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/LAC-endorsed-Petition-to-President-Ramaphosa.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT NOT TO SIGN THE UPSTREAM PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT BILL, B13B – 2021 INTO LAW |date=6 May 2024 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/LAC-endorsed-Petition-to-President-Ramaphosa.pdf?x21779 |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2024petition, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT NOT TO SIGN THE UPSTREAM PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT BILL, B13B – 2021 INTO LAW}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2024}, month = may, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/LAC-endorsed-Petition-to-President-Ramaphosa.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }