Greenpeace denounces the auctioning of oil and gas blocks in the DRC
Environmental organization Greenpeace on Tuesday urged oil and gas majors to refrain from buying rights to 27 oil blocks and 3 gas blocks auctioned by authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo to protect biodiversity, according to a press release.
Tenders for the allocation of rights to these blocks will be launched on July 28, the Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons, Didier Budimbu, announced on Monday.
The oil blocks concerned are spread over several regions of the country: three in the coastal basin, nine in the central Cuvette, eleven in the Graben of Tanganyika and four in the Albertine Graben. The three gas blocks are located in Lake Kivu.
“In letters sent to oil companies around the world, Greenpeace is warning against this ominous auction, which could take place to the detriment of biodiversity and the global climate,” said writes the organization.
“This auction not only mocks the image of the DRC as a solution to the climate crisis, it exposes the Congolese to the corruption, violence and poverty that inevitably accompany the curse of oil. “, said Irène Wabiwa, head of Greenpeace in the DRC .
“This massive auction – which local communities fiercely oppose – straddles peatlands and several protected areas,” denounced Greenpeace, which says it does not know the identity of the potential buyers.
In a joint statement following a meeting, Ministers Ève Bazaïba for the Environment and Didier Budimbu for Hydrocarbons affirmed that the oil blocks concerned by this sale were located outside protected areas.
“Official maps show that nine of them” are located in protected areas, reacted Greenpeace, indicating that “the updated number of blocks overlapping protected areas could amount to 12”.
This decision comes five months after the signing of a financing agreement for the protection of Congolese forests to the tune of 500 million dollars during COP26, deplored Greenpeace.
In April, the Congolese government lifted the option of auctioning oil blocks. The measure concerns “an area of more than 240,000 km² – an area approximately 300 times larger than Nairobi”, Kenya’s capital, the environmental organization noted.
