130 international and Congolese organisations have released a statement calling for an end to oil development in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as part of a new nationwide campaign\u00a0 ‘Our Land Without Oil<\/a>‘ led by Congolese civil society.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n The call<\/a>\u00a0comes in response to the announcement earlier this month by the DRC Hydrocarbons Minister, Aim\u00e9 Sakombi Molendo, that the government was cancelling a controversial auction of 27 oil blocks, whilst also signalling the intention to relaunch the tender on a restricted basis<\/a>. \u00a0The action comes as a DRC representatives gather in Cali, Colombia, for crucial talks on addressing the global biodiversity crisis at COP16. 18 months ago, an analysis<\/a> by RFUK, Earth Insight and our local partners found that the development of 27 oil and 3 gas blocks would have devastating impacts on DRC’s biodiversity, among the richest on the planet, as well on as the climate and the rights of thousands of forest-dwelling communities. Many of the blocks, the research showed, overlap ancestral lands, intact primary forests including the Cuvette Centrale peatlands – the largest terrestrial carbon sink on earth, and around a dozen protected areas.<\/p>\r\n While the government has signalled that a new tender may involve degazetting oil blocks that fall within protected areas, any renewed attempt to drill for oil in these areas poses huge social and environmental risks, whilst any restrictive tender would raise additional concerns over the transparency of any future process in a context of weak governance and widespread corruption that has characterised the process so far. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n Several of RFUK’s Congolese partners are at COP16 to bring this message to world leaders. APEM, CORAP, DGPA, CAGDFT and others within the newly formed civil society network Engagement for the Environment and Human Rights (Reseau-EDH) released a declaration<\/a>\u00a0setting out their position on oil development in the country as well as on a range of other environmental issues, including ensuring that a DRC government commitment to protect 30 percent of the country by 2030 does not lead to the further displacement and impoverishment of Indigenous Peoples and other local communities through the expansion of traditional protected areas, but rather strengthens the rights of such groups via the establishment of community forests and similar rights-based conservation models.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n The declaration also sets out alternative pathways for DRC to meet its energy and development needs including by harnessing the country’s immense potential in renewable energies and carefully managing its vast reserves of critical transition minerals. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n![\"APEM](\"https:\/\/staging.rainforestfoundationuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PHOTO-2024-10-30-14-24-24-1024x768.jpg\" "\\"PHOTO-2024-10-30-14-24-24\\"")
APEM and CORAP representatives meet with UK MPs and government officials at COP16 in Colombia. Share on Email Email <\/a> \ud835\udd4f<\/i> Share on X X <\/a> Share on Facebook Facebook <\/a> Share on WhatsApp WhatsApp <\/a> Share on Linkedin Linkedin <\/a> \n\n