Overview
The 6th edition of the Independent Advisory Panel took place from 4 to 7 December, 2023 including 2 days of field trip and 2 days of plenary session.
Dr Ray Victurine, Dr Nicolas Garnier, Dr Vojtech Novotny, and for the first time, Dr Claude Garcia took part in the 2-day field trip as facilitator. It was an opportunity for them to visit Wabo and talk to representatives of the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area. The following day, the participants visited the temporary nursery that will be established in 2023 as part of the Direct Offset Programme and took part in a walk to experience the rich biodiversity of the primary forest at the site of the future Central Processing Facility.
Dr Miriam Supuma, Dr Orovue Sepue and Cardinal Sir John Ribat joined the other panelists for the plenary session in Port Moresby to discuss the status of Papua LNG, the biodiversity offset strategy, community development, engagement with local NGOs, the Purari Flood Relief Mission conducted in November 2023 and IAP governance. Eventually 10 recommendations were formulated.
A glimpse in pictures
Based on the discussions held during the IAP meeting, the following key recommendations were formulated and presented after the session:
Recommendations Panel #6
BIODIVERSITY / CONSERVATION / ENVIRONMENT
6-B.1 Central Processing Facility (CPF) location
To explore whether the CPF could be established in an area of secondary forest that is available due to previous logging.
6-B.2 Decommissioning of access roads that will not be required during the Production Phase
Prior to decommissioning, to identify the roads that should be kept in working condition to support the local communities on social and economic grounds.
6-B.3 Environmental study related to the dredging of the river
To have access to environmental studies related to dredging to gain a better understanding of the potential impacts, especially on the fluvial ecosystem and the traffic on the river.
6-B.4 Support the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area (CMWMA)
To consider providing long-term economic support to the CMWMA to achieve biodiversity net gain.
SOCIETAL DEVELOPMENT
6-S.1 Community support in Wabo-Ura and in the wider Project Area of Influence (PAoI)
a) To achieve substantial and tangible projects in the villages in the domain of Education and Health.
b) To develop the sharing of TotalEnergies operational facilities (in term of transport and logistics) to bring drugs and educational material to remoted villages.
6-S.2 Ethnographic and social studies in the Project Area of Influence (PAoI)
To develop further ethnographic and social studies in the region.
6-S.3 Engaging with local communities
To investigate on the communication modus operandi and the way safety restrictions could impair the process of working together with local communities.
6-S.4 IAP field trip site visits
To visit a coastal village during the next IAP field trip.
PROJECT LARGO SENSU
6-P.1 Communication about “Carbon emission reduction” by Papua LNG
To soften the claim “Papua LNG is a project that will reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions” and present the Project as a possible way to reduce overall emissions through development of this transition energy source.
6-P.2 Lender Reports
a) To share the lender reports on biodiversity and social issues for review by the Panel.
b) To organize a meeting between the IAP and the lender audit team to discuss issues and share information.