{"id":329307,"date":"2025-08-09T01:20:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T01:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/329307\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T01:20:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T01:20:22","slug":"eu-advises-dr-congo-against-oil-drilling-in-green-corridor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/329307\/","title":{"rendered":"EU advises DR Congo against oil drilling in “Green Corridor”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The European Union has advised the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) not to allow oil drilling in a huge stretch of land spanning nature-rich rainforests and peatlands which the EU and DRC have labelled a \u201cGreen Corridor\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In January, the DRC and EU announced the creation of a \u2018Green Corridor\u2019 the size of France stretching across the DRC from Kivu in the conflict-torn east to Kinshasa in the west. But the partly EU-funded project was immediately criticised<\/a> by Indigenous and local groups in the eastern DRC as vaguely-defined and lacking public consultation.<\/p>\n

In May, the Central African nation announced it was allowing oil companies to bid for drilling rights in blocks which, according to a new report<\/a> by Earth Insight, cover nearly three-quarters of the corridor, \u201cjeopardizing its ecological integrity and undermining its credibility as a sustainable development and climate solution\u201d.<\/p>\n

EU responds to oil auction<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the EU\u2019s executive arm \u2013 the European Commission \u2013 told Climate Home that it is \u201caware and monitors closely\u201d the DRC\u2019s decision to auction oil licenses in the corridor.<\/p>\n

While the EU \u201cfully acknowledges and respects the DRC\u2019s sovereign right to utilise its diverse resources for economic development\u201d, the spokesperson said, it \u201chighlights the fact that green alternatives have facilitated the protection of certain areas, such as the Virunga National Park [in the eastern DRC], which is now free from oil concessions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nA map of the DRC with the Green Corridor in green and oil blocks in yellow (Photo: Screenshot\/Earth Insights)<\/p>\n

They added that the Green Corridor is expected to follow the model pursued in Virunga of \u201cnature conservation alongside effective green economic development\u201d.<\/p>\n

They said that \u201cat the current moment,\u201d there is no legal protection status prohibiting oil exploration or extraction in the corridor. But the European Commission will \u201creinforce its policy dialogue with the DRC government to ensuring adherence to the rule of law and honouring international agreements and commitments concerning biodiversity, forest resources, and climate impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are confident that through joint work between the DRC and the EU, it is possible to promote DRC\u2019s role in combating climate change while preserving and protecting the unique ecosystems it shelters,\u201d the European Commission spokesperson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cuvette Centrale peatlands<\/p>\n

These new oil blocks cut across more than half the DRC \u2013 spanning an area the size of South Africa \u2013 and cover more than half of the country\u2019s remaining intact forests, threatening vast areas of ecological importance, cultural and spiritual lands as well as disrupting local livelihoods, the Earth Insights report<\/a> said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The licensing round also encompasses nearly the entire DRC portion of the Cuvette Centrale \u2013 the world\u2019s largest peatlands\u2013 which stores massive amounts of carbon, critical to fighting climate change. This puts vast tracts of this fragile ecosystem in direct danger of exploration and drilling, the report warns, adding that extractive development in such waterlogged and carbon-rich soils carries catastrophic risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vittoria Moretti, Rainforest Foundation UK\u2019s Kinshasa-based forest campaigner for the Congo Basin, said the DRC government is driving an \u201cincoherent\u00a0and double standard narrative\u201d, whereby it vocally supports climate action while doing the opposite.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOn one side, it [DRC government] embraces the Green Corridor and promotes the narrative of the DRC as the solution country to the climate crisis and wanting to support that with initiatives like the Green Corridor and with the carbon finance and then it comes up with a new round of oil and gas blocks\u201d, she said.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The DRC has attempted to start oil drilling before. In 2022, it launched an auction of oil blocks which was criticised by environmental campaigners and the Biden Administration<\/a> in the US and was cancelled by the government<\/a> in October 2024, citing reasons such as late submissions, lack of competition and irregular offers. Announcing the cancellation, hydrocarbons minister Aime Sakombi Molendo said the process would be relaunched soon.<\/p>\n

Economic development<\/p>\n

RFUK\u2019s Moretti told Climate Home that the DRC seems to be currently grabbing at different things \u2013 including the critical minerals deals in the east, the plans to lift the logging moratorium and this rush for oil and gas \u2013 in \u201cdesperate\u201d moves to get funding and bring money in, in the face of economic challenges.<\/p>\n

Emmanuel Musuyu, executive director of DRC-based civil society group CORAP agrees. He said the government wants more revenue and so is exploring every sector where they can find money quickly and get investments to finance the economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they forget that with the evolution of renewable energy alternatives, oil and gas will not be a major option that will give money and employment in the near future,\u201d he said, adding that exploitation of oil destroys the ecosystems, agricultural lands and the livelihoods of local people.<\/p>\n

In the face of the climate crisis, developing countries often point to rich counterparts<\/a> like the US, Canada and Norway who continue to drill for oil and gas as their reason for doing same and argue that if they are to move to renewable sources then the global north must provide the funding.<\/p>\n

Moretti said this could also be an underlying reason for the oil auction, with the DRC using this as a \u201cbargaining chip\u201d to say \u201cif you want us to protect the forest, then you better pay and finance this\u201d. But, she added, \u201cthat\u2019s a very shortsighted approach,\u201d especially as countries move towards decarbonisation of their economies.<\/p>\n

Last month, the world\u2019s highest court \u2013 the International Court of Justice \u2013 advised<\/a> that issuing oil licenses may constitute a breach of international law over which governments could be sued by other nations.<\/p>\n

Musuyu said the country has more to benefit by exploring renewable energy alternatives. He asked that the minister of hydrocarbons \u201cblock this big [oil] project because it is not a good goal for the DRC to have. The DRC has a huge potential in the renewable energy alternative and needs to develop it as that can help the country become an Africa reference in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The European Union has advised the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) not to allow oil drilling in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187,1699],"class_list":{"0":"post-329307","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european","11":"tag-european-union"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114996184746856485","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}