Kinshasa, 19 July 2024 – Following her visit to the Republic of Congo’s Conkouati-Douli National Park on 6 July, Greenpeace Africa calls on the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina Mohammed to denounce the government’s decision to award an oil and gas exploration permit there last February.
None of the social media around the photo-op or media “coverage” of it includes mention of the ecocidal permit.
In a long video posted by Congo’s Forest Economy Minister Rosalie Matondo, who accompanied her with the Tourism Minister, Ms. Mohammed applauds the government’s conservation record. In the video, Ms. Matondo states that when the government vaunts its supposed green credentials, she has “the impression people don’t believe us.” She gloats : “What better ambassador could we hope for for our country? This visit is important in the eyes of the world.”
Local media reported that Ms. Mohammed, who previously served as Nigeria’s controversial Environment Minister, came away from the visit convinced that Congo is “avant-gardist about forest conservation.”
Last month thirteen Congolese human rights and environmental NGOs called on donors to suspend conservation financing of Conkouati-Douli until the oil and gas permit is canceled.
Conkouati-Douli is the country’s most biodiverse protected area, and home to several thousand people.
The permit was awarded only two months after Congo signed a $50 million forest protection deal with donors at COP28.
The government has failed to disclose the amount of the signature bonus the little-known firm “China Oil Natural Gas Overseas Holding United” was required to pay according to the terms of the 8 February award decree, nor the identity of the firm’s shareholders.
From 2 to 5 July the UN and Congo co-organized an “International Conference on Afforestation and Reforestation” in Brazzaville, sponsored by multinational loggers and the carbon offsetting partner of TotalEnergies, Forêt Resources Management, among others.
Donor greenwashing continued on 12 July, with the EU ambassador stating after a meeting with the Environment Minister that Congo “conserves well” its “immense, fantastic” forests. In his remarks, he mentions Conkouati as one of three EU-financed national parks in the country he’s enjoyed visiting…
Earlier in the month, after a visit to a peatland zone near Brazzaville, the President of COP29 tweeted: “Preserving peatlands will play an important role in limiting the impact of #ClimateChange and to keep the 1.5 °C goal within reach.”
Last April Congo’s Oil Minister signed a production sharing agreement with the Société africaine de recherche pétrolière et de distribution (SARPD-OIL) for a 9,392 km2 oil block in the middle of the Central Cuvette peatlands, in the north of the country.
Greenpeace Afrique reiterates its call for the cancellation of the oil exploration permit in the Conkouati-Douli national park, and calls on international donors to firmly remind the Congolese government to put people’s well-being before its own interests.
Contact: Greenpeace Africa , [email protected]