Dakar, Senegal — With one of the largest dilapidated rainforests on the planet, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is auctioning vast lands to become a “new destination for oil investment”. The world retreats by fighting climate change in a fossil fuel battle.
The oil and gas block, which will be auctioned in late July, extends to Virunga National Park, the world’s most important gorilla reserve, and tropical peatlands that store large amounts of carbon, outside the atmosphere and globally. Prevents contributions. Global warming.
Eileen Wabiwa, who oversees the Congo Basin Forest Campaign in Kinshasa’s Greenpeace, said:
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to soaring oil prices, leading to Russia’s energy bans in the United States and Britain, and last week called for the distribution of natural gas in Europe.
At the same time, Norway, a leader in forest conservation, is planning more offshore drills to increase oil production. And President Biden, who promised to pull the world away from fossil fuels early in his term, recently traveled to Saudi Arabia, where he raised the need for more oil production. Returning to his hometown, Mr. Biden’s ambitious domestic climate agenda is largely destined.
Congo is paying attention to each of these global events, said Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, the country’s representative on climate issues and an adviser to the Minister of Hydrocarbons.
He said the only goal of the Congolese auction is to earn enough income to support the financial programs of countries struggling to reduce poverty and generate terribly needed economic growth. Told.
“That’s our priority,” Mpanu said in an interview last week. “Our priority is not to save the planet.”
Congo announced an auction in May. Posted video On Twitter, I showed a sparkling river surrounded by deep beds in a lush rainforest. The video was immediately cut into a close-up of a gas station pump, where yellowish gas spewed into a car tank. American and French oil giants Chevron and TotalEnergies have been tagged in the post.
Environmental groups were indignant. Last week, Congolese authorities doubled to increase the number of blocks consisting of 27 oil blocks and 3 gas blocks (a vast land) from 16 to 30. TotalEnergies said it did not intend to bid, and Chevron did not respond to requests for comment. Other major oil producers also declined to comment.
The auction highlights the dual standards that many political leaders on the African continent have called for. Western nations prospering with toxic and earth-warming smoke-emitting fossil fuels in Africa gas to protect coal, oil and everyone else?
“Maybe it’s time for us to get equal competition and be compensated,” Mupanu said.
Many Congolese officials believe that after decades of colonialism and political mismanagement, their own needs should be prioritized over the needs of the world.
For President Tshisekedi, throwing his country as a breakwater against global warming has encountered political reality. The country’s next presidential election is 18 months away, but the turmoil has already begun with Mr. Tshisekedi running for his next term. In 2018, he was declared the winner in a highly contested election. He signed a contract with his predecessor, the unpopular but still powerful Joseph Kabila. The pair’s arrangement collapsed in 2020, but some analysts warned that Kabira or his associates could reach ballots when foreign investment is pouring into the country. There is.
How much compensation is incurred in Congo is unknown until an earthquake survey is conducted. It’s a very destructive process in itself. According to scientists.
In May, Congolese Hydrocarbon Minister Didier Budimbu is now about 25,000 barrels of oil per day, Could produce up to 1 million barrels. At current prices, it is worth $ 32 billion annually, more than half of Congo’s GDP.
Mr. Mupanu pointed to Amazon as an example of how countries with natural resources would have to act if richer countries did not compensate for them.
In 2007, then Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa was a trust fund funded by the international community to thwart the search for oil blocks in Yasuni National Park, one of the most biodiversity regions in the world. Was established. The goal was to raise about $ 3.6 billion. A few years later, it raised only $ 13 million. Therefore, in 2013, the government decided to allow oil exploration. The excavation began three years later.
“We are not under threat,” said Mupane, dismissing the idea that the Congolese auction was merely an attempt to scare the country and provide more financial assistance. “We are very humble. We have the right to sovereignty to move on.”
But scientists say it can be destroyed if you go further Valuable rainforests and flarkThis provides one of the last lines of defense of the planet struggling to limit the rise in temperature.
Seismic surveys to identify oil deposits will open a long path through the rainforest and explode explosives. Waste from oil production processes, including salt and heavy metals, can upset the salt balance of the entire Congo Basin ecosystem, as in the case of the Amazon. Road construction needed for the oil industry will open up vast areas of sparsely populated rainforests to human settlements. Leads to increased logging..
According to peat experts, flark drainage and dehydration also occur, ultimately leading to the decomposition of peat and the release of trapped carbon.
If this happens, Susan Page, a professor of physical geography at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, said the large amount of carbon released very rapidly could “virtually be a turning point for the Earth’s climate. There is. “
Mpanu argued that drilling is “surgical” and that companies can find ways to drill diagonally so that they do not touch the peat. He argued that any action was in line with global climate change efforts and would follow extensive environmental impact reviews and studies of impacts on local populations.
According to Wabiwa, Greenpeace’s team recently consulted with people living in the proposed oil block, saying residents would oppose drilling and protest.
Instead of alleviating poverty, she said selling oil blocks would bring great benefits to a small number of people.
Congolese Hydrocarbon Minister Budinbu consulted with Africa’s largest oil producers such as Angola, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea, “to help the Democratic Republic of the Congo follow the same path.” Recent releases On the ministry’s website.
But if Congo follows in their footsteps, it could mean a fate called the “resource curse,” citizens cannot benefit from their own natural wealth, and economic development remains poor. is.In Nigeria, oil is the center of the economy, but its production is a catastrophic outflow. Increasing inequality.. In Equatorial Guinea, the majority of the population lives below the poverty line, Do not enjoy profits From the country’s vast oil wealth.
The decision to allow further exploration has been carefully considered, but appears to be the subject of internal debate, government officials said.
March, Ève BazaibaThe Congolese Minister of the Environment told The New York Times that officials are considering it in the future. “Does flark need to be protected because it is a carbon sink, or does it need to dig oil for the economy?” She said.
Last week she announced her intention to participate in the auction.
“If there is an alternative to oil development, we will maintain it.” She saidSpeaking of peatlands.
However, Mr. Mupanu said Congo has already paid for climate change. This will enable the mining of minerals and metals such as cobalt and lithium, which are key to the renewable energy industry, and the development of hydroelectric power generation is planned.
“We are part of the solution, but the solution also includes the use of petroleum resources,” he said.
He states that the country can try to protect other lands to offset what is lost by drilling in places like Virunga, and it is oil that decides whether to drill within the boundaries of the park. He said it was up to the company.
“If you lose 10 hectares, you will be able to protect 20 hectares,” he said. “Sure, it doesn’t have the same biodiversity and fauna, but the country does.”
Asked by an oil company to consider drilling in protected gorilla habitats in an era of ever-increasing consumer awareness, Mr. Mupane did not hesitate.
“That’s what it is,” he said. “We need to see how many people value the resource.”
Dionne Sircy reported from New York. Manuela Andreoni contributed a report from Rio de Janeiro.