The Democratic Republic of Congo has approved a new round of oil development, threatening to release billions of tons of carbon while upending the lives of millions.
What's happening?
As The Guardian detailed, the Democratic Republic of Congo has greenlit a licensing round for 52 oil blocks on critical habitats for endangered lowland gorillas and bonobos.
Mapping and analysis from Earth Insight and its partners revealed that 64% of the area set aside for oil blocks is an intact tropical rainforest.
The oil blocks also threaten the livelihoods and culture of 39 million people who rely on the forests for their survival, as well as Cuvette Centrale, the largest tropical peatland complex in the world. More than 70% of the Kivu–Kinshasa Green Corridor is also in the crosshairs.
Why is this potential oil development concerning?
According to NASA, human activities have increased the atmosphere's carbon levels by 50% in less than two centuries, causing Earth's climate to warm.
Cuvette Centrale stores an estimated 30 gigatons of carbon. However, oil development would seriously degrade its ability to absorb the heat-trapping gas contributing to more intense extreme weather, food insecurity, and disease spread.
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Habitat loss is also contributing to a sixth mass extinction event that could further raise the stakes of a land auction with dangerous implications.
The endangered bonobos, for example, crucially help regenerate the carbon-absorbing forests in the DRC by dispersing seeds, as the African Wildlife Foundation explained.
"The world's worst place to prospect for oil is up for auction, again," University College London Professor Simon Lewis, whose team first mapped the central Congo peatlands, told The Guardian.
In 2022, the government canceled an auction due to lack of competition and late submissions.
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Yes — everywhere 👏 "No credible company would bid for oil in the DRC's forests and peatlands, as there is probably not enough oil to be commercially viable, and it will be expensive oil in financial, social and environmental costs," Lewis added.
What's being done to stop the licensing round?
Notre Terre Sans Pétrole (Our Land Without Oil) is a local group raising awareness about the impacts of oil and gas exploitation.
The organization is also pushing the DRC government to consider environmentally friendly alternatives that honor the rights of local communities.
"Imagine: 39 million Congolese people … and 64% of our forests could be directly affected by the awarding of these oil blocks," Notre Terre Sans Pétrole campaign coordinator Pascal Mirindi told The Guardian. The DRC government did not respond to the publication's request for comment.
"Where is the logic?" Mirindi added. "Where is the coherence? We are reminding our leaders that the Congolese people are the primary sovereign. We will not remain silent while certain people organize themselves to sell off our future."
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