The country that houses the world’s second largest rainforest is in the process of auctioning off 30 oil and gas blocks. They are located in the middle of protected nature. Rainforest that Norway has spent NOK 2.8 billion in aid to preserve since 2016. And which Norway plans to spend a further NOK 1.5 billion on until 2025. The so-called Congo basin, the forest in the middle of Africa, is the size of India. The decision to search for fossil energy, in the middle of the forest that regulates the climate and provides rainfall over large parts of Africa, has attracted international attention. – I cannot say clearly enough how serious this is. Oil exploration in the rainforest will be a disaster for the climate, nature and people. It will open up and destroy peat and rainforest areas that store enormous amounts of carbon and house a rich biological diversity, says Frode Pleym of Greenpeace Norway to news. HUGE EMISSIONS: The peat bed in the Congo basin stores enormous amounts of CO₂. This can be released into the atmosphere if you start looking for oil and gas here. Photo: Steve O. Taylor (GHF) / Nature Picture Library Points to Norwegian double standards “Our large rainforests already compensate the world by maintaining a stable climate. In that sense, the world is in debt to us and should compensate us for it. But we cannot sacrifice our economy for the sake of the environment.” The statement came from the Congolese oil minister, Didier Budimbu, to the Washington Post last winter. According to Budimbu, the country can earn NOK 14.5 billion a month from just two oil blocks. The Congolese authorities have defended themselves against criticism by emphasizing that the DR Congo is one of the world’s poorest countries and needs the oil revenues. VERY SERIOUS: Frode Pleym calls it a crisis for both climate and nature if the DR Congo starts drilling for oil in the rainforest wetlands. Photo: Johanna Hanno They have also shown that Norway and other rich countries continue to increase their oil production and are constantly opening up new oil blocks. Pleym in Greenpeace tells Bistandsaktuelt that the case shows how Norwegian oil extraction limits Norway’s ability to influence other countries, and weakens Norway’s reputation internationally. – It is both tragic and understandable when politicians in the Congo cynically use Norwegian oil exploration as an excuse to open new areas themselves. Asks Norway to put its foot down In a letter to the government, the environmental organization asks that Norway take action to save both climate, nature and Norwegian aid billions. This is how Climate and Environment Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) responds: “We consider this issue to be very important, and not something we take lightly. Norway will have a close dialogue with the Congolese authorities and the other parties in the CAFI cooperation about this going forward.” So then news has to ask: – What will the government answer then, when the Congolese authorities argue that “Norway continues to increase its oil production, and we need the money more”? “The Ministry of Climate and the Environment and Espen Barth Eide currently have no further comments”, is the response news receives from the government. ILLEGAL LOGGING: Only stumps remain of the rainforest in this area of DR Congo after illegal logging. Today, logging is one of the biggest threats to the world’s second largest rainforest. Photo: PHIL MOORE / AFP It is not Congo’s task to save the world Spokesman for climate issues in the Congolese government, Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, says Congo needs the income to reduce poverty and create economic growth: “That is our priority. Our priority is not to save the world,” Mpanu told the New York Times. The oil auction comes just eight months after President Félix Tshisekedi stood with world leaders at the climate summit in Glasgow and backed a 10-year deal to protect the rainforest. AGREE: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi and US President Joe Biden agreed during the climate summit in Glasgow on an agreement to save the rainforest. Photo: ERIN SCHAFF / AFP The agreement contains promises of NOK 4.8 billion over the next five years. The New York Times has tried to check whether there are any oil companies considering bidding for the oil blocks. The newspaper writes that Total Energies has no plans for that. The rest of the companies they asked have not responded. Equinor replies to news that the company has no plans to bid at the auction.
ttn-69
Opens for oil exploration in rainforest that Norway has spent billions on preserving – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
