OCEAN JUSTICE

This guidebook provides a comprehensive framework for small-scale fishing communities in South Africa to exercise their environmental rights. It details the constitutional and legislative protections (such as NEMA and PAIA) available to prevent ecological degradation and unfair discrimination. The text highlights the risks posed by oil, gas, and mining developments, the specific threats of climate change to marine biodiversity and livelihoods, and provides a step-by-step guide for engaging in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and law-making processes to ensure meaningful community participation.

• Environmental justice in South Africa is defined as a state where all individuals have "equal use, enjoyment and protection of their environmental resources", ensuring that those affected by decisions regarding nature and people are represented and consulted.
• The South African Constitution provides the supreme legal framework for environmental rights, specifically Section 24, which guarantees the right to an environment that is "not harmful to their health or well-being" and the protection of the environment for present and future generations.
• The National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) mandates that environmental justice be pursued to prevent negative impacts from unfairly discriminating against "vulnerable and disadvantaged persons" and requires Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for specific activities to evaluate potential harm.
• Industrial developments posing risks to South African coastal communities include oil and gas exploration (which involves seismic surveys, test wells, and production), mining (both onshore and offshore), powerships, and hydrogen plants.
• The oil and gas industry is identified as a major driver of climate change, contributing "over 42% of global greenhouse gas emissions". The document notes that to remain below a 2°C temperature increase, a significant portion of reserves—including a third of oil and half of gas—must remain unused from 2010 to 2050.
• Climate change specifically impacts fishing communities through rising ocean temperatures that shift "migratory patterns of fish, their locations and populations", and an increase in severe storms and storm surges.
• The 2022 Durban floods serve as a case study for climate-related disasters in South Africa, resulting in 459 deaths, 40,000 people left homeless, and estimated infrastructure and business damages of "around R40 billion".
• Communities can exercise their rights through the EIA process by registering as an Interested and Affected Party (I&AP), attending public meetings, and submitting written comments. If an environmental authorisation is granted, parties can appeal to the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment within 20 days.
• The Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) allows individuals to request information from public and private bodies to protect their rights, specifically prohibiting the refusal of access to information regarding "environmental risk".
• Legal challenges by fishing communities against companies Shell and Searcher regarding seismic testing demonstrated that courts may stop projects if public participation is found to be insufficient, specifically ruling that a "Chief" does not automatically speak for the entire community.

APA

Natural Justice (2025). OCEAN JUSTICE. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Ocean-Justice-booklet_hi-res-FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. OCEAN JUSTICE. 2025. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Ocean-Justice-booklet_hi-res-FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=OCEAN JUSTICE |date=March 2025 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Ocean-Justice-booklet_hi-res-FINAL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljustice2025ocean, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{OCEAN JUSTICE}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2025}, month = mar, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Ocean-Justice-booklet_hi-res-FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }