Commenting on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for oil and gas projects

The document provides a guide for South African communities to exercise their legal right to comment on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA) for oil and gas projects. It outlines the two-phase process—scoping and impact assessment—and provides a framework of questions to help citizens identify potential impacts on livelihoods, health, biodiversity, cultural practices, and climate change. The guide includes a suggested structure for submitting formal comments to decision-makers in local or national government.

• South African law grants interested and affected persons (I&APs), including local communities, the right to provide input on how oil and gas drilling off the coastline may affect sea life, seawater, and community livelihoods.
• The EIA process is divided into two primary phases: the Scoping Phase and the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) Phase, both of which include opportunities for public comment submission.
• Environmental Authorisation (EA) for oil and gas exploration or production is decided by local or national government based on final EIA reports that incorporate public comments.
• The toolkit suggests that commenters evaluate projects based on several criteria, including impacts on health, access to the ocean, movement of fish and bird species, cultural and spiritual practices, and effects on climate change and future generations.

APA

Natural Justice (2025). Commenting on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for oil and gas projects. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Toolkit-EIA-Comments_Aug-25.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. Commenting on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for oil and gas projects. 2025. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Toolkit-EIA-Comments_Aug-25.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=Commenting on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for oil and gas projects |date=September 2025 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Toolkit-EIA-Comments_Aug-25.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljustice2025commenting, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{Commenting on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for oil and gas projects}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Toolkit-EIA-Comments_Aug-25.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }