The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), home to one of the largest primary rainforests in the world, has auctioned off [le 28 juillet] large plots of land in the hope of becoming “the new Eldorado of oil investments”.
These plots, intended for oil and gas drilling, extend into Virunga National Park [dans l’est de la RDC], the largest gorilla nature reserve in the world. But also in tropical peat bogs which absorb considerable quantities of carbon, thus preventing it from reaching the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.
“If these regions are turned into drilling areas, we must expect a global climate catastrophe, in the face of which we will be powerless”, warns Irène Wabiwa, who oversees Greenpeace’s campaigns for the Congo Basin forest from Kinshasa.
A global turnaround
It’s a complete turnaround. Only eight months after the participation of the president [congolais]Félix Tshisekedi, at COP26 in Glasgow and the signing of a ten-year agreement for the protection of the Congo Basin rainforest – the planet’s second lung after the Amazon rainforest – the government is giving the green light to new oil drilling in the midst of fragile ecosystems.
The agreement provided, over the first five years, for international investments of up to 500 million dollars. [493 millions d’euros] to the DRC, one of the poorest countries in the world. But since its ratification, the international community has redefined its immediate priorities.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent oil prices soaring and led Americans and British to declare embargoes [à plus ou moins long terme] on Russian oil and gas. [Il y a quelques semaines,] the Europeans have adopted a voluntary plan to reduce gas consumption within the Union.
At the same time, Norway, known for being one of the leaders in forest protection, is increasing its oil production and plans to carry out new offshore drilling. to lift the world out of its dependence on fossil fuels, recently visited Saudi Arabia, where he called for an increase in oil production.
“Two weights, two measures”
The DRC has taken note of these events, explains Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, adviser to the Minister of Hydrocarbons and the country’s negotiator on environmental issues. The auctioning of these plots has the sole objective of financing programs to fight poverty, he assures us, and to generate economic growth, which the country desperately needs. “This is our priority. Our priority is not to save the planet.”
Kinshasa had announced the procedure [d’appel d’offres en vue de l’attribution des permis d’exploration] in May, in a video posted on Twitter. Chevron and TotalEnergies, the American and French giants in the sector, were mentioned in the message accompanying the video.
This move has sparked outrage from environmental activists. [Juste avant le lancement de l’appel d’offres,] the government has also doubled the bet, increasing the number of blocks to be allocated from 16 to 30; 27 are intended for oil drilling and 3 for the gas sector. The TotalEnergies group would not intend to acquire, we are assured internally. Despite our requests, the representatives of Chevron and other major oil groups refused to comment on the subject.
Many African leaders denounce the “double standard” revealed by this situation: how can Western countries, which have built their wealth on the exploitation of fossil fuels at the cost of toxic emissions responsible for global warming, demand African states to give up their own reserves of coal, oil and gas to protect the rest of the world?
The inevitable Ecuadorian model?
Another question torments the many natives whose survival depends on the felling of trees – for trade or cooking. If they decide to protect these carbon sinks, of inestimable value for the whole planet, what will they get in return? After decades of colonialism and mismanagement, the state must now put Congolese interests above those of the world, say many local politicians.
In trying to set up his country as a bulwark against global warming, President Tshisekedi has come up against some political difficulties. The next presidential election will not take place [qu’à la fin de l’année prochaine]but the atmosphere is already agitated.
Impossible to know what are the amounts at stake as long as the plots [mises aux enchères] will not have been probed using seismic imaging – a method that could itself wreak havoc, scientists say.
In May, the Minister of Hydrocarbons, Didier Budimbu, announced that the DRC, which currently produces nearly 25,000 barrels of oil per day, would be able to step up its production, up to 1 million barrels. At current prices, this represents 32 billion dollars [31,8 milliards d’euros] per year, i.e. more than half of the national GDP.
When Westerners refuse to support them, countries with natural resources should draw inspiration from the Amazon model, assures Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu. In 2007, Rafael Correa, then President of Ecuador, created a fund that the international community could contribute to prevent oil drilling in Yasuní National Park, one of the largest biodiversity reserves in the world. The state had set a goal of about $3.6 billion [près de 3,6 milliards d’euros]but, several years later, the endowment of the fund did not exceed 13 million dollars [12,9 millions d’euros]. The Ecuadorian government therefore decided in 2013 to give the green light to prospecting – and drilling began three years later.
“We are not under threat”, assures Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, refuting the idea that the auction would only be an attempt to scare the international community with the aim of encouraging countries to increase their financial aid to the DRC. “We remain humble, but, as a sovereign state, we have the right to see this project through.”
Deforestation and dangerous carbon release
Scientists believe, however, that logging these plots could result in the destruction of valuable areas of rainforest and peatlands, which are one of the planet’s last defenses against rising temperatures.
The use of seismic imagery to identify oil deposits would indeed require the clearing of long furrows of forest and the triggering of explosive charges. Waste from oil production, which contains salt and heavy metals, could also upset the balance of the entire Congo Basin ecosystem, as is the case in the Amazon. The construction of the roads necessary for the exploitation of the oil and gas blocks would also cause the installation of new inhabitants in vast portions of equatorial forest hitherto sparsely populated, and therefore an intensification of logging. Finally, experts fear a drying out of peat bogs, which would eventually lead to their decomposition and the release of the carbon they contain into the atmosphere.
This rapid and massive release of carbon “could be a tipping point for the global climate”, warns Susan Page, professor of physical geography at the University of Leicester, in the United Kingdom.
Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu certifies that the boreholes could be “with surgical precision” and carried out obliquely, in order to avoid areas of peatland. He argues that every decision will be consistent with international environmental goals and that trade-offs will be preceded by a thorough study of the impacts on the ecosystem and local people.
A Greenpeace team went to meet the Congolese living on the plots concerned. They would be hostile to drilling and ready to show their disapproval, assures Irène Wabiwa.
[Car,] if the sale of the oil blocks promises to be extremely profitable, only a handful of individuals will benefit from the economic spinoffs, which will not alleviate poverty, she continues.
The Minister of Hydrocarbons, Didier Budimbu, spoke to his counterparts in Angola, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea – three of the main oil producers on the African continent -, in particular, to “to understand [leur] Politics” et “so that the DRC can take the same path”, according to a press release from the ministry.
The curse of oil
But, by drawing inspiration from the model of its neighbours, the DRC could find itself caught in the trap of what some call “the curse of oil”: the exploitation of the deposits would not benefit the Congolese, and the economy would remain bloodless. In Nigeria, for example, oil is the mainstay of the national economy, but its production also causes hydrocarbon spills with devastating consequences and widens inequalities. In Equatorial Guinea, most of the population lives below the poverty line and derives no benefit from the country’s vast oil reserves.
Kinshasa thought long and hard before giving the green light to new drilling, assure government representatives, but this decision is obviously not unanimous.
The state could seek to preserve other regions to compensate for the damage caused by drilling in areas such as Virunga National Park, assures Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, adding that it will be up to the oil companies to decide whether to undertake or not. boreholes inside the park.
It sums : “For 10 hectares lost, we could protect another 20. Admittedly, the biodiversity will not be as rich, but the DRC is in its right.”
Which companies could well consider drilling in a protected area of gorilla habitat, at a time when public opinion is increasingly aware of environmental issues? “It’s like that, Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu section. We will see the value that people place on these resources.”