Sasol Climate Change Report 2022 - Book - Page 43
INTRODUCTION
RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES
OUR FUTURE SASOL STRATEGY
GOVERNANCE
DATA AND ASSURANCE
ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Responding to climate change
A proactive, phased approach in response to severe weather events
Sasol has a structured response to ensure that we adapt appropriately to the physical impacts of climate
change, which is posing an increasingly material risk to our operating assets, fenceline communities, retail
sites and supply chain. Impacts are being experienced because of the growing prevalence and severity of
extreme weather events, particularly hurricanes, flooding and drought. Our operations and employees in
Mozambique and Lake Charles in the United States have both been impacted by severe hurricane or cyclone
events, while recent flooding in KwaZulu-Natal have also affected our supply chain, employees and
operations. We continue to take measures to protect our operations, employees and supply chain from these
events and provide support for communities to build their resilience.
Responding to extreme weather and climate change is not a new initiative and is a risk
we have been engaging and responding to for many years. We have been progressing our
climate adaptation work in phases, with material progress made on building our resilience
since 2010.
PHASE 1: DEVELOPING OUR
ADAPTATION RESPONSE TO
EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS
(2010-2017)
• Identified and implemented
controls in response to
extreme weather events.
The assessment confirmed
that future climate change
risks will be amplified
over time.
• Developed and implemented
a weather ready guideline.
• Embedded weather-related
impacts into our risk
management process and
emergency preparedness
plans and procedures.
PHASE 2: DEVELOPED OUR CLIMATE CHANGE
ADAPTATION RESPONSE STRATEGY (2018 – 2019)
Our strategy was informed by a detailed downscaled
climate change assessment at four operating sites,
namely Secunda, Sasolburg, Mozambique and Lake
Charles. We are experiencing highly variable climate
impacts in all of the regions where we operate and
more pronounced effects at these operations.
Our modelling work for the prioritised sites
predicted the following, which informs our adaptation
risk profiles:
• a future increase in average temperatures of
1°C – 4°C;
• a five-fold increase in extreme hot days, from five
to twenty-five days;
• that rainfall patterns are projected to change; and
• that storm events are projected to increase in terms
of variability and severity.
SASOL CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT 2022 42
PHASE 3: UPDATING OUR
ADAPTATION RISK PROFILES
(2020-2022)
Through a risk-facilitated
process, our site-specific climate
change adaptation risk profiles
were reviewed and updated,
with responses confirmed
and ownership clarified.
Adaptation risk profiles are
reviewed periodically to ensure
its suitability for a changing
climate.
Phase 4 of our response is
being planned to verify the
effectiveness of Sasol’s critical
controls in response to
climate change.
Flooding at Natref’s
Durban operations
During April 2022 in KwaZulu-Natal,
South Africa, extremely high rainfall was
experienced in a short period, resulting in
flooding of major parts of the province,
including Natref’s crude oil storage facility.
This facility was submerged below more than
1,5 metres of water rendering the site
inoperable and affecting major roads,
transportation, communication and electrical
systems. The damage greatly hampered
recovery and relief efforts.
Flash flooding resulted in our night shift
employees being stranded for 18 hours before
being rescued by boat the following day.
Our response teams were able to successfully
service and restore critical infrastructure, as
well as recommence pumping of crude oil to the
inland Natref refinery. In doing so, we prevented
the complete shutdown of the refinery.
The interventions we undertook did not result
in any occupational safety, process safety
or environmental incidents.
