Mombasa, Kenya, 15 June 2026: At the One Ocean Conference (OOC) starting in Kenya tomorrow from 16-18 June 2026, Natural Justice will be joining fishers, civil society and activists in calling for a fossil free ocean. As the first OOC held on African soil, the conference is a crucial opportunity to raise awareness about Africa’s seas that are under siege, and the urgent need to protect Africa’s coastline and those who safeguard it.
We will be bringing attention to the many threats faced by the oceans, which are leading to dire environmental impacts and threats to the human rights of coastal communities and ocean defenders. Africa is at the centre of a global boom in offshore oil and gas exploration: Between 2025 and 2030, an estimated 176 oil and gas projects (spanning offshore and onshore) are planned across the continent, worsening land grabs, water pollution, and climate emissions—without the consent of affected communities.
As the Conference starts, Natural Justice, with our allies, will hand over a petition endorsed by almost 100 NGOS calling for a Fossil Free Ocean, which encompasses the urgent phase-out of fossil fuels and an immediate halt to offshore oil and gas expansion across Africa’s oceans. The petition calls on delegates, governments and banks to: 1) Stop New Offshore Fossil Fuel Expansion; 2) Protect Africa’s Oceans and Marine Biodiversity; 3) Uphold Human Rights, Livelihoods & Food Sovereignty; 4) End Public Financing for Offshore Fossil Fuels; and 5) Reject False Solutions & Protect Ocean Systems.
“Across Africa, governments and investors are increasingly looking to the oceans as engines of economic growth through the blue economy. But sustainable ocean futures cannot be built on exclusion, environmental degradation, or the marginalisation of the communities who have protected marine ecosystems for generations. The choices made today will determine whether Africa’s oceans continue to sustain future generations or become the next frontier of extraction.” – Farida Aliwa, Natural Justice Executive Director.
“From west to south Africa, there is an onslaught of deep-sea mining and offshore exploration. The Orange Basin has become the latest fossil fuel frontier, with Israeli and South African companies signing deals. Tomorrow, South Africa will commemorate the children slain by state security forces in 1976 for demanding an end to Apartheid. It is a shameful betrayal of their memory and sacrifice, that exactly 50 years later, we are selling off the future of young South Africans to an apartheid regime engaged in what our government has correctly labelled a genocide.” – Cape Town Hub Director at Natural Justice, Delme Cupido.
At Natural Justice we believe Indigenous Peoples, coastal communities and small-scale fishers are leaders and custodians of oceans. With Kenya being host of this year’s Oceans Conference, we hope our government sets a precedent for Africa and the globe, realising the imperative of a fossil free ocean for the sake of people and planet.” – Elizabeth Kariuki, Nairobi Hub Director for Natural Justice.
