…write UN, AU, others
…demand implementation of the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
…insist launch will hike global warming, fuel armed conflicts
By Kayode Falade
Citing a deluge of reasons, civil society organisations and environmental activists in the Democratic Republic of Congo have kicked vehemently against the launch of 30 new oil and gas blocks in the country.
The calls for tenders for the blocks, including 27 oil and three gas blocks, valued at 680 billion dollars were made on 18 July 2022.
This is as the climate warriors urged the international community, African Union, the president of the DRC, lawmakers and other government officials to prevail on the DRC government to rather embrace the preservation and promotion of better climate by embracing renewable energy.
This is as even as the activists made case for retaining a clean environment devoid of pollution and carbon emission which can be done through the conservation and preservation of peatlands and the embrace of renewable energy.
The reservation of the activists, who gathered under the aegis of the African Cool Network (ACN) and the African Network of Young Leaders for Peace and Sustainable Development, was contained in no fewer than three letters written to the United Nations, Chairman of the African Union, the president and head of state of DRC, ministers, members of parliaments and concerned government officials at different times.
The activists, while laying the ground for their opposition against the planned launch of the new blocks, said they were against the new blocks because of bad governance which had not utilised the hitherto resources of the land for the good of the people.
The Civil Society Organisations in the DRC in their letters signed by the national Director of AICED, Nyebone Faustin, and made available to NatureNews reiterated the constitutional provision which allowed citizens individually or collectively to air their grievances, said the country`s experience with mining companies had been bitter with nothing to show for the massive mining activities taking place in the place.
The activists maintained that based on the harrowing experience from the miners, they expected nothing but woes for the proposed launch of the 30 new oil and gas blocks.
The letters stated: “For the DRC, it is not the resources that are lacking to boost the country’s economy and improve the socio-economic conditions of the population, but rather bad governance.
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“As a result of corruption, the population of the DRC lives in poverty despite its wealth, so that, launch of tenders for 30 blocks, including 27 oil and 3 gas blocks: an opportunity for the DRC or of a threat to peace and an obstacle to of a threat to peace and an obstacle to its development?
“Were it not for bad governance, the resources that are being exploited would be sufficient to boost the country’s economy and improve the socio-economic conditions of the people.
“The mining companies do not respect the communities’ specifications. As an example, we cite the case of the population living near the Bisie site, in the Wassa Group, Wanyanga Sector, in Walikale territory, the largest cassiterite deposit in the DRC and the largest mine in North Kivu, which has not improved the standard of living of the communities and has been described as “an extractive activity typical of the irregularities and lack of transparency that deprive the local communities of their means of subsistence without adequate consultation and compensation.
“With this bad precedent in mining, what guarantee does oil exploitation offer to the interests of the communities and especially as the time seems to be very sensitive because soon it is the end of the governments’ mandates?”
The activists insisted that if the proceeds from the oil and gas blocks were not well managed and devoid of corruption, they would end up fuelling the internal armed strives and wars in the country.
“According to the UN expert group, the DRC conflict is a self-financing conflict that prolongs the conflict, now more than two decades old, and to add that the DRC is today the emblematic case of blood minerals.
“While the government has not yet brought under control the armed groups that are self-financing from the illicit exploitation of minerals, we believe that allowing the exploitation of oil for the time being would provide the armed groups with another source of even greater self financing, and this risks compromising efforts to restore peace,” one of the letters read further.
Making case for retaining a clean environment devoid of pollution and carbon emission which can be done through the conservation and preservation of peatlands and the embrace of renewable energy, the activists said: “A significant proportion of these auctioned blocks straddle the world’s largest tropical peatland complex in the Congo Basin, which stores about 30 billion tonnes of carbon, equivalent to about 82% of the world’s annual carbon dioxide emissions, thus contributing to the fight against global warming, and which the DRC is already experiencing the consequences of climate change.
“According to an OCHA bulletin, between October 2015 and April 2016, floods caused by heavy rains had affected more than 770,000 people in 13 of the country’s 26 provinces and more than 90 people had died, nearly 40,000 shelters had been destroyed and 5,500 hectares of fields flooded. Another OCHA report of 16 December 2019 states that at least 600,000 people are estimated to be affected by flooding in 12 provinces, caused by heavy rains in October.
“So protecting peatlands, which contribute to the fight against global warming, is first and foremost in the interest of the Congolese population, which is already suffering from the impact of global warming.”
The groups added: “The DRC can still gain a lot by investing in renewable energies as promised by the President of the Republic, His Excellency Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi in his speech at COP 26 in that “we are also working to reduce the pressure on our forests by developing our immense clean and renewable energy potential. This vision and promise of the Head of State is realistic and appropriate because the DRCongo has the hydroelectric energy potential to supply ¾ of Africa, a true source of sustainable financing. Unlike oil wells, which only last 30 to 50 years, and without counting the consequences on biodiversity (zero pollution does not exist), the protection of biodiversity is also a significant source of income in a sustainable way, which the DRC has not yet exploited well, because according to a report by the Dalbeerg Global Development Advisors firm quoted by Le Monde, “the DRC could earn 1.1 billion dollars a year and create 45,000 permanent jobs if the environment and tourism were well managed. The report adds that in addition to oil revenues, tourism could bring in $235 million; fishing, $90 million; hydropower, $10 million; while, more indirectly, ecosystem services (carbon sequestration, water supply and soil erosion prevention) would bring in nearly $64 million. Finally, preserving natural resources for future generations would be worth $700 million per year.”
The groups added: “We believe that promoting the exploitation of oil (non-renewable, unsustainable resources) in the DRC in general and in the Great Lake region in particular, it is promoting raw materials for the manufacture of plastics that pollute the waters of Lake Kivu and damage the Ruzizi hydroelectric power plant, the largest hydroelectric power plant in the Great Lakes region. Even recycling plastic waste is not a sustainable solution.
“In view of the above, we recommend the following: Instead of auctioning oil and gas blocks, invest in renewable energy, in accordance with the vision of the Head of State, His Excellency Mr. Felix-Antoine T’shisekedi and which is reflected in his speech at COP 26.”
