Centre for Environmental Rights – Advancing Environmental Rights in South Africa

PRESS RELEASE: Cancel Coal case heard in North Gauteng High Court

The North Gauteng High Court this week, on 9 and 10 October, heard landmark constitutional litigation against the South African government, demanding that it abandon plans to build 1 500 MW of new coal-fired power on grounds that new coal-fired power poses significant unjustifiable threats to constitutional rights.

Dubbed the Cancel Coal case, it was launched by three civil society organisations – the youth-based African Climate Alliance (ACA), the community-based Highveld group, the Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action (VEM) and groundWork, represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), against the former Minister of Energy and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA).

The burning of coal is the biggest contributor to global climate change, in addition to unacceptable health impacts caused by air and water pollution. Government’s current plans to build 1 500 MW of new coal-fired power in South Africa are costly, unnecessary and an unjustified limitation of the Section 24 right to an environment not harmful to health and wellbeing, along with other rights, and should be abandoned. There is no justifiable basis for the limitation of constitutional rights because cleaner and less harmful renewable energy is both a feasible and cheaper alternative to new coal power.

The review application, launched in September 2021, highlights the findings of both international research, such as the recently published Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which confirms the need to urgently cut greenhouse gas emissions in light of the precarious state of our climate, as well as a series of in-depth expert analyses of the consequences of new coal-fired power specific to South Africa.

Argument in court centred around the failure of the state respondents to ensure adequate consultation with youth, children and representatives of future generations. Due to the intensifying nature of the climate crisis, unchecked climate change will impact most heavily on children whose lives are still ahead of them. Additionally, it is children, (along with elderly people and those with respiratory health conditions) who are the most vulnerable to the toxic air pollution emitted by coal fired power plants.

The issue of so-called clean coal was also in the spotlight, with the state respondents claiming that the use of High Efficiency Low Emissions (HELE) technology will adequately mitigate climate, health and environmental harms. However, no assessment of the technology was done. In contrast, the applicants commissioned an expert report that describes how there is effectively no such thing as clean coal, with HELE only able to minimise a certain type of pollution by relatively small degrees.

Additional local expert reports document the unnecessary cost and job losses, climate harms and impacts on social, physical and mental health and well-being for people living in South Africa, now and in the future.

Judgement was reserved.

“New coal-fired power flies in the face of our constitutional right to an environment not harmful to health and wellbeing, not only for the present generations but for future ones too,” ,” says Brandon Abdinor, attorney at CER.

“With all the harm that coal power causes to people, the economy, and the environment-and since we have better options that don’t risk human rights in the same way- the government needs to end its plans to build, 1500MW of new coal power and move towards socially owned renewables.” Says Gabriel Klaasen, environmental activist at ACA

“We experience air pollution, water pollution and land pollution – everything is affected by the coal mines. The environment we’re living in is very destructive, so many people are sick. Coal is affecting members of the community’s health and comfort, people are living with cancer and respiratory diseases, and rely on oxygen and nebulisers just to survive. This case is a last resort; we are saying there should be no new coal power, it is too destructive,” says Mbali Mathebula from VEM.

“If we are committed to the well-being of our people and the environment we must commit to moving towards renewables. They are feasible and affordable replacements for coal power, which will not only save lives, but also allow the environment to thrive, “says Nqobile Ranela, environmental activist and coal campaigner for groundwork.

ENDS.

For more information contact:

Nomatter Ndebele: [email protected]

Tsepang Molefe: [email protected]

Resources:

Fact sheet: The Myth of Clean Coal: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BZMbGgLV8wrS0DiXu7Gc9XxT4BLc34wO/view?usp=drive_link

#CancelCoal videos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VhMoVCinrBOqAOj0Hsoim_7h36z4vhWE?usp=drive_link

Cancel Coal court papers: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LI2snvg0V73jlS1BXw8Ei8GUxBpFoTU1?usp=drive_link