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Environmentalists picket African Energy Week, urging an end to new oil and gas exploration
Activists said new fossil fuel projects would deepen climate change and harm communities already facing fires, floods and rising food prices.
On Tuesday, Greenpeace Africa and Extinction Rebellion activists picketed the African Energy Week conference in Cape Town, South Africa, demanding an immediate end to all new oil and gas exploration across the continent.
Siya Myeza, a climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace Africa, branded the gathering "Africa Exploitation Week," accusing the industry of driving environmental destruction and poverty.
Despite legal appeals, British energy giant Shell plans to drill deepwater wells in the Northern Cape Ultra Deep block off South Africa's west coast, drawing opposition from campaigners citing Paris climate commitments.
Police removed the demonstrators, who wore T-shirts bearing the slogan "Make polluters pay," as South Africa's government continues promoting natural gas as a complement to renewable energy for power security.
Judy Scott-Goldman, an Extinction Rebellion representative in Cape Town, warned that expanding fossil fuel use contradicts Paris climate commitments and risks floods, rising food prices, and social unrest across Africa.
Climate activists held a protest Tuesday in front of an energy conference in Cape Town, South Africa, demanding an end to oil and gas exploration across the continent and accusing energy companies of prioritizing profits above people and the environment.