At the end of July, the DRC decided to sell plots in the Congo Basin to oil companies. A decision that could cost the planet dearly.
While the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the member states of the Blue Fund for the Congo Basin, the posture in Kinshasa seems to be very different from the official one, which consists in making people believe that it is necessary to "respond to climate issues". The exit of Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, ambassador and expert in sustainable development, who is the main representative of the country on climate issues and adviser to the Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons, proves it: "Our priority is not to save the planet", explains he, laconically.
In an article published this Sunday, the New York Times shows how “Congo will auction land to oil companies”. The American daily explains that "the peatlands and tropical forests of the Congo Basin protect the planet by storing carbon" but that, "now, in a giant step backwards for the climate, they are auctioned off for drilling". .
No more question of “leaving time for nature to restore itself”?
The beginning of a predicted climate catastrophe? In any case, at the end of July, large quantities of land will be sold to oil companies. Land that hosts blocks of oil and gas, notably in Virunga National Park, the largest gorilla park in the world. "If oil exploitation begins in these areas, we must expect a global climate catastrophe, and we will all have to watch helplessly," Irene Wabiwa of Greenpeace Kinshasa told the NY Times.
We are far from the stated will of the DRC to fight against global warming. In addition to his membership in the Blue Fund, the President of Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, was one of the star guests of COP26 in Glasgow last November. He then had announced measures against deforestation. Eve Bazaïba, Congolese Minister for the Environment, recalled in Scotland that we must “allow time for nature to restore itself”. Of time, the Congo Basin will have very little, ultimately.
Should the DRC pay for the rest of the world?
Because barely eight months after the Glasgow Conference on climate change, where hundreds of millions of dollars had been negotiated so that the DRC could act for the environment, everything changed. Probably, in part, because of the war in Ukraine and global gas needs. The DRC now wants to raise funds to develop. Dozens of blocks will therefore be put up for auction but, according to the NY Times, it is not certain that Chevron and TotalEnergies, two companies targeted by the DRC, are trying to acquire them.
Beyond the scandal caused by the auction, the Democratic Republic of Congo seems to want to open a debate. Whereas Africa emits less than 4% of all greenhouse gases on the planet, she must now make a considerable effort to save the world. “Maybe it's time we got a level playing field and we were compensated,” says Tosi Mpanu Mpanu.
If the latter assures "not to be in threat" vis-à-vis Western donors, it is clear that the DRC wants to show other countries that it does not have to suffer the inconsequences of the West. It also shows that Felix Tshisekedi must face the reality of politics, by sparing the environment on the one hand but also the economic well-being of its populations on the other.