Tl;dr: A Canadian company is planning on a project in Africa that will take up 1/6 of the world's remaining carbon budget. This is an issue of neocolonialism and environmental racism.
[Image description: Infographic slideshow from Fridays For Future.
1: Recon Africa: Stop drilling in the Kavango Basin, a project that will take up one sixth of the worldās remaining carbon budget.
Global Day of Action: June 4th
#SaveOkavangoDelta #KavangoAlive
2: Reconnaissance Africa (ReconAfrica) is a Canadian-registered oil and gas company which has begun drilling for oil in the Kavango Basin, located and Northeast Namibia and Northwest Botswana.
Their license areas cover a total of 34,325 square kilometers (8.5 million acres).
Including parts of the Cubango-Okavango River Basin (traverses through Angola, Botswana, and Namibia) and along the Okavango River, which feeds into the Okavango Delta.
3: The Okavango Delta is a large inland delta located in Botswana and is a world-renowned hotspot of biodiversity.
It is designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a Wetland of International Importance by the The Ramsar Convention.
It is home to many endangered species, including the African wild dog and the last remaining population of African savanna elephants.
4: ReconAfrica's license areas are home to around 200,000 people.
The company has failed to properly inform and consult with the local people and receive the free, prior and informed consent of the Indigneous San communities.
Several local inhabitants have stated that they were not consulted or even informed that drilling would be taking place.
The few consultations that have occurred happened too late in the process, and were inaccessible to many members of the community.
5: Based on ReconAfricaās own projections of 120 billion barrels of oil equivalent, a carbon gigabomb of up to 51.6 Gigatonnes of CO2 will be emitted.
The equivalent of one sixth of the world's remaining carbon budget.
6: Activists across the world are calling out and pressurizing Recon Africa along with the Canadian government to stop this catastrophic project.
This is a classic example of neocolonialism, corporate ecocide, environmental racism, and the abuse of power for profit yet again from countries in the Global North. This must be stopped!
Stand in solidarity with frontline activists and take action!
7: Calls to Action:
Check out the toolkit at: bit.ly/SaveOkavangoDelta
Register for the action calls on June 4th:
5 AM GMT: bit.ly/SOD-ActionCall
6 PM GMT: bit.ly/SOD-ActionCall2
Registration for artbuild by @climatestrikecanada on June 3rd at 10 PM GMT: bit.ly/KavangoAlive_ArtBuild
Organize or attend covid-safe in-person actions at Canadian embassies and/or ReconAfrica in your country.
Participate in the Digital Protest by posting/sending over your picture to @fff.digital
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Note: Social media handles refer to Instagram
Please spread this!
Again, you can help by going to bit.ly/SaveOkavangoDelta.
