The Environmental Management System is part of the Integrated Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) Management System certified against ISO 14001 and ISO 45001.
The Company has AfriCorp Petroleum’s Health, Safety, and Environmental Policy in place. By continuously identifying environmental and climatic risks, the Company seeks, to the extent practicable, to avert worst-case risk realization scenarios.
ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY PROGRAM
The primary tool of putting the Company’s environmental policies in action, is the Environmental Safety Program of AfriCorp Petroleum that is based on the laws of the countries of its presence, and environmental risk assessments, encompassing a multitude of activities intended to mitigate the adverse environmental impact of the Group’s production operations.
The activities are grouped together into subprograms by types of environmental impact. Planning of activities is done over a three-year timescale, with the targets being established annually. The program envisages construction of environmental facilities, revamping, replenishment of the vast fleet of machinery and equipment used for nature conservation purposes, and adoption of the best available techniques.
ASSESSMENT AND MONITORING
Subject to the statutory requirements and self-imposed principles, AfriCorp Petroleum evaluates and monitors the environmental impact of its production operations throughout the entire lifecycles of its facilities. In conducting environmental impact assessments (EIA) and scheduling activities covered by the Environmental Safety Program, the Company relies on a precautionary principle, being part of its existing risk management system.
As required by the laws of the countries of its presence, international financial institutions and AfriCorp Petroleum’s corporate standards, the EIA activities are made part of the design stage. The assessment findings are integral to designing documents and subsequently find use in environmental monitoring. When engaging in activities that are associated with exploration and production of mineral resources in a foreign country, every project must at all times be preceded by a social and environmental impact assessment.
EIA focuses on studies of the initial terrain and ecosystem characteristics, key factors, and types of impact that a project/facility exerts on the environmental media, defining techniques for prevention or mitigation of adverse production impact. Mandatory public hearings and opinion surveys of the local communities are a way of discussing the social and economic fallout of a project and reaching an agreement on controversies.
Every AfriCorp Petroleum entity, whose production operations impact the environment, during the course of such operations carries out continuous industrial environmental monitoring (IEM). IEM involves comprehensive efforts of inventory-taking of contaminant emissions, discharges, and waste, accompanied by taking of samples to be further tested in both in-house and third-party laboratories. Observations are complemented by experimental work. Both environmental monitoring and IEM are assigned to independent scientific research entities awarded contracts following competitive bidding and based on their track record.