Democratic Republic of Congo invites Big Oil Companies to world’s second-largest rainforest

Democratic Republic of Congo invites Big Oil Companies to world’s second-largest rainforest

Subject: Environment

Section: International convention

Context- The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has approved a plan to auction 16 oil blocks, nine of which fall in the sensitive ecosystem of Cuvette Centrale, in the Congo river basin, the second-largest forested area in the world after the Amazon.

• Greenpeace Africa has called out the government, saying that decision would have “cataclysmic consequences” for global climate and local communities.

Concept-

• Last week, the council largely approved the 2021 proposal by the Ministry of Hydrocarbons on the auctioning of 16 oil blocks, at least nine of which are in the sensitive ecosystem of the Cuvette Centrale.
• The Cuvette Centrale is located in the centre of the Congo river basin.
• It contains around 30 gigatonnes of carbon, equivalent to 15 years of emissions from the United States.
• According to UNEP, around 75 million people from over 150 distinct ethnic groups depend on the health of this forest that covers much of the Congo Basin peatland complex.
• The DRC, the Republic of the Congo and Indonesia signed the Brazzaville Declaration in March 2018 to protect this complex under the leadership of UN Environment and other Global Peatlands Initiative partners, UNEP has noted.
  • Peatlands are a type of wetland which occur in almost every country and are known to cover at least three per cent of global land surface.
  • The term ‘peatland’ refers to the peat soil and the wetland habitats growing on the surface according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Brazzaville Declaration:

• The Brazzaville declaration was singed jointly by Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Republic of Congo and Indonesia to promote better management and conservation of the world’s largest tropical Peatlands-Cuvette Centrale region in Congo Basin.
• The declaration was signed to conserve the region from unregulated land use and prevent its drainage and degradation.
• It has been signed on the side-lines of Third Partners Meeting of Global Peatlands Initiative held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
• They are globally important carbon store. The unregulated exploitation of peatlands can potentially be detrimental to environment and to climate, as it could release carbon emissions that have been locked in for millennia.
• Peatlands are wetlands that contain mixture of decomposed organic material, partially submerged in layer of water, lacking oxygen.
• Their high carbon content makes them uniquely vulnerable to incineration if they are drained.
• The Cuvette Centrale region in Congo Basin is world’s largest natural tropical peatlands. It stores three years equivalent of global greenhouse gas emissions.