Africa is steaming ahead with plans to develop its gas reserves, despite high-level opposition and environmental concerns ahead of the upcoming COP27 in Egypt in November.
One of the most controversial projects under scrutiny is the DRC’s decision to auction off 30 oil and gas blocks worth $600bn in the Congo Basin – a vast rainforest spanning multiple countries known as the ‘lungs of Africa’.
John Kerry, the US climate envoy, urged the DRC last week to abandon its plans to auction off some of the blocks in sensitive environmental areas at a pre-COP27 in the capital city of Kinshi.
Financing for Africa hasn’t been forthcoming despite pledges, COP27 is a chance to deliver’He asked the government to “withdraw some tracts to protect the forest”, referencing “critical peatlands” that could release thousands of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere if disturbed.