Democratic Republic of Congo: Government calls off oil auction!
The rainforests in the Congo Basin are home to bonobos, gorillas and chimpanzees. (© shutterstock.com)
Oct 16, 2024
Great news from the world’s second largest rainforest: the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is canceling the auction of 27 oil concessions! Local communities and environmental activists, including Rainforest Rescue, fought the project tooth and nail. However, the Ministry of Oil is considering a new attempt, so our campaign will continue.
The bombshell came on October 11. In a short, one-page statement: Minister Aimé Sakombi Molendo canceled the auction of 27 oil blocks. He cited irregularities in the bidding process and a lack of oil industry interest. Bidding deadlines had been postponed several times.
In July 2022, the government put 27 oil and 3 gas blocks up for auction. Several were located in the fragile ecosystem of the Cuvette Centrale, the largest peatland complex in the tropics. Nine overlapped with protected areas such as Virunga National Park.
“The government has now done the right thing and canceled this unspeakable auction. But the fact that it is making a new attempt to extract oil in the Congo Basin, even if it excludes protected areas, is worrying,” says Marianne Klute, Co-Chair of Rainforest Rescue: “Oil and gas extraction endangers nature, the climate and local people and must be stopped once and for all. President Félix Tshisekedi calls the DRC a ‘country of solutions’ when it comes to climate and rainforest protection, and he must live up to this claim.”
From the outset, environmental activists, civil society and communities have questioned the legality of the process, criticized its disregard for local people and warned of the destruction of the rainforest. Rainforest Rescue and partner organizations launched the petition "DRC: Do not sacrifice Congo's rainforests to the oil industry" and delivered the signatures in Kinshasa, Berlin and Montréal.
By October 2024, 117,247 people had signed the petition. As the threat has not been completely averted, we continue to collect signatures.
