Extractives & Infrastructure

‘Leave it in the ground!’ Congolese civil society send a strong message to halt auction of oil and gas licensing rights in DRC as COP28 climate summit begins

30 November 2023

Kinshasa, 30 November 2023 As the DRC government delegation prepares for crucial COP28 climate talks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) starting later this week, Congolese civil society and Indigenous organisations have sent to them and to the broader international community a strong message: it is time for the country to move away from oil … Read more

Petrol Non-Merci ! Civil society organisations push presidential candidates on their environmental commitments in the run up to DRC presidential elections

6 November 2023

Kinshasa Last week, Congolese civil society organisations knocked at the door of several candidates running for the upcoming DRC presidential elections to ask them to prioritize pressing environmental issues in their electoral campaigns and manifestos. Activists from Extinction Rebellion Movement of the University of Goma (XR), in partnership with North Kivu-based civil society network Reseau … Read more

The Three Basin Summit falls short of bold actions in fight against tropical deforestation

1 November 2023

At the closing of the Three Basin Summit on Saturday, governments and leaders vowed to strengthen collaboration to preserve the world’s great rainforest basins but fell short of adopting concrete outcomes to protect tropical forests and forest-dependent communities from the looming threats of industrial and extractive expansion. A reported 3,000 delegates including Heads of States, … Read more

Fresh concerns over huge fossil fuel auction in DRC after government signs first gas production sharing agreements

29 September 2023

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has awarded the first contracts in an auction of 30 oil and gas blocks in the tropical forest country to a forfeited company in the US and to another with no known experience in the industry, renewing concerns over the controversial tender. At a ceremony in … Read more

African Civil Society Decries Corporate Capture of the Africa Climate Summit

4 September 2023

African Civil Society Decries Capture of the Africa Climate Summit by Corporate Interests   As African leaders gather for the Africa Climate Summit, hundreds of African organisations have expressed concerns about the corporate capture of the event.  The inaugural summit – held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 4 to 6 September – is billed as a crucial … Read more

A Make Or Break Moment: Fossil Fuel Expansion In The Amazon And Congo Basins Is An Existential Threat To Climate And Communities

6 June 2023

Financial system decisions now pivotal to ending fossil fuel expansion in the world’s largest tropical rainforests Recent reports spotlight plans for fossil fuel expansion in some of the world’s most important ecosystems, and follow financial flows from major banks Banks, financial institutions, and their regulatory bodies have a key role to play in reducing threats … Read more

NGOs Urge International Community to Act on Impending Natural Resource Grab in DRC

23 March 2023

Fifteen Congolese and International NGOs have warned of an imminent sell-off of timber, oil and carbon rights in the run-up to elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo later this year.  In a letter to the Inter-Donor Group on Environment and Climate (GIBEC) ahead of its planned meeting with DRC President Tshisekedi this week, we call … Read more

Congo in the Crosshairs: Oil and Gas Expansion Threats to Climate, Forests, and Communities

10 November 2022

A new comprehensive mapping and analysis by RFUK and Earth Insight shows that oil and gas expansion in the Congo Basin is a rapidly accelerating existential threat to the global climate, and to the world’s second largest rainforest – including the tens of millions of people who live there. There is still time for African … Read more

Congolese civil society releases position paper calling into question the legality of DRC oil and gas auction

28 October 2022

A group of environmental civil society organisations in the Democratic Republic of Congo have just released a position paper detailing the multitude of issues with the government’s auction of oil and gas blocks covering the country’s forests, threatening its carbon-rich peatlands, several protected areas and millions of local livelihoods. The CSOs express concern not only … Read more

In Cameroon, the critically important Ebo forest is under threat from a road building project

4 August 2022

A 200,000 hectare intact forest in Cameroon is under threat from a road-building project, which could lead to devastating impacts on critically endangered wildlife and more than 40 communities who call Ebo home. While the road-building project is purported to bring development opportunities to the villages affected, closer inspection of the plan shows that this … Read more