Finding the Balance between “Promote” and “Protect”

Natural Justice critiques proposed amendments to South Africa's EIA Regulations, warning that reducing 'red tape' for seismic surveys, mining expansions, and fracturing could lead to long-term ecological and social harm. The organization advocates for maintaining full EIAs for high-impact activities and strengthening public participation to ensure a just energy transition.

• Proposed amendments to the EIA Regulations seek to reduce administrative burdens, including downgrading seismic surveys from requiring full environmental impact assessments to basic assessments, which may accelerate approvals for resource exploration.
• The amendments propose removing the requirement for landowner consent for certain activities, such as mining expansions and projects using fracturing technology, which Natural Justice suggests may negatively impact small-scale farmers and customary landowners.
• Changes to the regulations include the automatic recognition of environmental authorizations issued before 2014 and the replacement of the specific term 'hydraulic fracturing' with a broader definition of 'fracturing', which could reduce environmental oversight.
• Natural Justice argues that a robust EIA process is necessary to prevent short-term economic gains from causing long-term ecological harm, specifically calling for full assessments for high-impact activities like fracking, seismic surveys, and the construction of ports or oil refineries.

APA

Martens, C. (2025). Finding the Balance between “Promote” and “Protect”. Natural Justice. https://naturaljustice.org/a-view-on-the-south-african-eia-amendments/

Chicago

Martens, Claire. Finding the Balance between “Promote” and “Protect”. Natural Justice, 2025. https://naturaljustice.org/a-view-on-the-south-african-eia-amendments/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Martens |first1=Claire |title=Finding the Balance between “Promote” and “Protect” |publisher=Natural Justice |date=12 February 2025 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/a-view-on-the-south-african-eia-amendments/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{martens2025finding, author = {Martens, Claire}, title = {{Finding the Balance between “Promote” and “Protect”}}, publisher = {Natural Justice}, year = {2025}, month = feb, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/a-view-on-the-south-african-eia-amendments/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }