Ncumcara Community Forest Management Association v The Environmental Commissioner

Local Kavango communities and civil society organizations initiated proceedings against the Namibian Environmental Commissioner (as first respondent) due to Reconnaissance Energy Africa’s drilling in the Kavango Delta. The Applicants were Ncumcara Community Forest Management Committee, Muduva Nyangana Communal Conservancy Management Committee, Katope East Community Forest Management Committee, Kavango East, as well as West Regional Conservancy and Community Forest Association. Reconnaissance Energy Africa is a Canadian oil and gas exploration company. In 2019, Reconnaissance Energy Africa obtained a permit allowing them to carry out exploratory oil drilling in part of the Okavango Delta. The Namibian Authorities later amended the license. Subsequently, the Applicants objected to the amendments in a letter to the Environmental Commissioner, dated May 27, 2022. The Applicants did not receive any response. In June 2022, the Applicants appealed to the Minister against the Environmental Commissioner’s decision, asking for the decision allowing the drilling to be rescinded or reviewed. The complaint was unanswered by the Minister. The Applicants then filed a complaint before the Namibian High Court to make the court oblige the Minister to respond and prohibit further drilling. The case was heard on July 13, 2022. The Applicants claimed that their rights were infringed due to the drilling on community-managed land, already endangered due to climate change, and that the local communities were not adequately consulted as per Namibian law. Further, the Applicants claimed that the drillings are putting the region’s sole freshwater source at risk for pollution and exposing already endangered wildlife to further risk. The Kavango Delta is a large freshwater wetland, supplying drinking water to a region prone to drought, worsened by climate change, and home to a large number of animal and plant species. The Applicants asked the High Court of Namibia for an urgent interim injunction prohibiting further drilling for oil in the Kavango Delta. The High Court held that it did not have jurisdiction, as the Environmental Management Act (Sec. 50) reserves the right to decide on the appeal for the Minister. The High Court considered that intervention would be possible only if the Minister refused to make any decision or if the Minister had already made a decision. On July 29, 2022, the High Court rejected the Applicants’ requests. Thereby, Reconnaissance Energy Africa is allowed to continue with the drillings. The Applicants were ordered to pay legal costs.