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TO PRESIDENT HAGE GEINGOB (OF NAMIBIA)

TEMPLATE 1 -
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EMAIL ADDRESSES:
info.op@op.gov.na
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SUBJECT: Save the Okavango Delta!
BODY:
President Hage Geingob,
We are Fridays for Future climate activists from across the globe that are writing to you because we are working to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis. As a group of climate activists who are deeply concerned for the environment, we support the rejection of the project of oil and gas exploration that Reconnaissance Africa (ReconAfrica), a Canadian company, obtained for Namibia’s environmentally sensitive Kavango basin.
The Okavango region is home to world's largest herd of African elephants left on Earth and other myriad animals, and flora. It is a biodiversity hotspot apart from being a tourist attraction. Okavango Delta is the only source of water for the region and the local communities' livelihoods depend on the delta's water .
Indigenous communities inhabiting the region express their grave concern as most of them were unaware of the ReconAfrica company’s prospect to destroy their ecological habitat and now they feel helpless about the situation. The Namibian and Botswana public knows little about this huge project and the impacts it will have. Local residents, farmers and the indigenous San people have not been consulted, which represents a violation of the principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).
What is particularly alarming is that the marketing material of ReconAfrica makes implicit reference to fracking – e.g. “unconventional play”, “unconventional methods”, etc. These are industry euphemisms for fracking. Fracking causes water pollution, unsustainable water usage, earthquakes, GHG emissions and physiological problems. Fracking in Botswana could have an impact not only the country's groundwater, but also that of Namibia and South Africa.
The extensive negative and long-term impacts to the environment and indigenous communities, tourism, and to Namibia and Botswana‘s good international reputation far outweigh the benefits – which will mostly be raked in by ReconAfrica and its investors.
It's high time to recognize the need to urgently stop the ReconAfrica's project of oil and gas exploration to save one of the most biodiverse places in Africa. Thank you for taking the time to read this email and we hope that we can work together in conserving the Okavango Delta.
#KavangoAlive
#NoFrackingWays
Together for the climate,
(name)
(country)
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TEMPLATE 2 -
click here to send
⁠
⁠


EMAIL ADDRESSES:
info.op@op.gov.na
⁠
⁠
SUBJECT: Save the Okavango Delta!
BODY:
President Hage Geingob,
We are Fridays for Future climate activists from across the globe that are writing to you because we are working to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis. We urge you to reject the project of oil and gas exploration that Reconnaissance Africa (ReconAfrica), a Canadian company, obtained for Namibia’s environmentally sensitive Kavango basin citing the following reasons-
The project threatens to pollute and destroy nature and protected areas. The exploration sites are within the KAZA Transfrontier Park, the largest terrestrial transfrontier conservation area in the world. The prospecting area in Namibia and Botswana borders three national parks. The Okavango River and the Panhandle supply water to the unique Okavango Delta, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The prospecting area also overlaps with several community conservancies and community forests and surround another UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tsodilo Hills, revered amongst the First Nations San community who live nearby in one of their last refuges. This exploitation project reeks of neo-colonialism: Particularly worrisome is that ReconAfrica has a 90% stake while the Namibian Oil Corporation NAMCOR has only the remaining 10%, with Namibia only getting 5 % royalties from ReconAfrica.. On the Botswana side, ReconAfrica has a 100% stake. This does not make sense and they cannot claim to be bringing development when they are reaping most of the profits and are putting both Namibia’s and Botswana’s precious wildlife and ecosystems at risk.
We are deeply concerned about the anticipated and historically documented impacts of oil and gas exploration in environmentally sensitive ecosystems:
- depletion and pollution of limited water resources (surface and aquifer), particularly in countries that experience extreme droughts
- drilling requires clearing the area of vegetation, thus causing deforestation and desertification
- roads leading to the drilling sites could lead to an increase in poaching
- noise level rises from drilling – and potentially fracking – that impact people and wildlife
- air pollution that leads to health issues
- seismic activities, including earthquakes, that may persist long after drilling
Please take all measures in your power and responsibility to stop this future-wrecking venture. We must keep oil in the ground and instead attract investment in renewable energies, which is a far more sustainable and feasible option for the two countries.
We are certain that you take the climate crisis as seriously as we do, and hope you can join us in our fight to save the Okavango Delta, Africa’s treasure.
#SaveTheOkavangoDelta
#StopReconAfrica
Fighting for our future,
(name)
(country)


TEMPLATE 3 -
click here to send
⁠


EMAIL ADDRESSES:
info.op@op.gov.na
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⁠
SUBJECT: Save the Okavango Delta!
BODY:
Dear Mr. President, Hage Geingob,
We are Fridays for Future climate activists from across the globe that are writing to you because we are working to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis . We urge you to stop the project of oil and gas exploration in Namibia's environmentally sensitive Kavango basin.
As you know, the ReconAfrica's fossil fuel project will drive the climate crisis along with risks of destroying global attempts of meeting a two-thirds chance of limiting global heating to 1.5°C as part of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. This project has been anticipated to destroy the region's ecosystem by dwindling global carbon budget and hampering global efforts to move beyond fossil fuels. It is a menace to wildlife and would harm the habitats of many species, worsening food security and polluting the region's aquifer. It would even destroy the infrastructure as heavy machineries for oil rigs and resources for this industry will be transported through the roads.
There is no time to lose - stop the plans to drill and frack in the Okavango delta. Climate change will and is having an equal impact on each one of us, so we need to act now!
#SaveTheOkavangoDelta
#FrackFreeBotswana
Fighting for our future,
(name)
(Country)

TO RECON AFRICA -
click here to send
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EMAIL ADDRESSES: investors@reconafrica.com
jay.park@reconogc.com
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admin@reconafrica.com media@reconafrica.com
SUBJECT: Okavango Delta: Keep the oil industry out of Africa’s natural treasure!
BODY: Dear ReconAfrica,
We are Fridays for Future climate activists from across the globe that are writing to you because we are working to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis . We urge you to stop the project of oil and gas exploration in the Namibia’s environmentally sensitive Kavango basin.
The Okavango Basin is an endorheic basin that covers an area of over 2.5 million km sq. across Namibia, Angola and Botswana. The basin, which includes the Okavango Delta, is one of Africa’s most biodiverse habitats, home to a myriad of birds and megafauna species including the largest African elephant population left on the planet. Nearly one million people are dependent on the Okavango basin for their livelihoods.
The ReconAfrica's fossil fuel project will drive the climate crisis along with risks of destroying global attempts of meeting atwo-thirds chance of limiting global heating to 1.5°C as part of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
Based on ReconAfrica’s own projections of 120 billion barrels of oil equivalent, the ‘carbon gigabomb’ comes in at up to 51.6 Gigatonnes of CO2, the equivalent of one sixth of the world’s remaining carbon budget. This, among other issues, raises ocean temperatures and disrupts ocean ecosystems.
Environmentalists point to the Niger Delta in Nigeria, where oil exploitation by Shell and other corporations has caused an ecological and social nightmare. This must not be repeated in Namibia and Botswana.
Namibian and Botswana environmentalists anticipate the following impacts:
· The region’s ecosystem will be destroyed by a Canadian company that will rake in 90% of the profits.
· ReconAfrica’s project will lead us to burn through what little remains of the planet’s dwindling global carbon budget and hampers global efforts to move beyond fossil fuels. The company must not be allowed to destroy such a globally vital conservation area under the guise of economic development.
· Oil and gas extraction is a menace to wildlife. Loud noises, human movement and vehicle traffic from drilling operations can disrupt avian species’ communication, breeding and nesting.
· The infrastructure built for energy development can also have a negative impact: power lines, well pads, fences and roads fragment the habitats of many species.
· The construction of roads, facilities and drilling sites known as well pads requires the use of heavy equipment and can destroy big chunks of pristine wilderness. Such damage is often irreversible.
· Transporting the oil rig will destroy local roads. How heavy oil and gas industry equipment has impacted road infrastructure and led to deadly accidents has been amply documented in other countries.
· The region’s tourism industry will be shaken and thousands of people might not only lose their jobs, but their investments as well. Who would want to go on safari in a landscape littered with oil wells?
· The project would deplete and pollute the region’s aquifer. How can one justify giving an overseas company unbridled access to the region’s most precious resource?
· The project will worsen food insecurity in the region, as water is the life source of communities in the Okavango ecosystem.
There is no time to lose - stop the plans to drill and frack in the okavango delta. Climate change will and is having an equal impact on each one of us, so we need to act now!
#SaveTheOkavangoDelta
#FrackFreeBotswana
Fighting for our future,
(name)
(country)

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