Understand the issues
Why say no to oil and gas in DRC?
Mapping oil projects, documented impacts and resources to understand the stakes of fossil fuel exploitation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Key issues
The main problems posed by oil exploitation
Four dimensions of impact documented by research and testimonies from affected communities.
Lives at risk
Oil and gas projects directly put millions of people at risk in the DRC.
- Around 39 million people live inside the new oil blocks.
- In Muanda, decades of oil extraction have already caused pollution, illness, and loss of income for local communities.
- Destruction of wildlife habitats
- At Lake Kivu, gas extraction exposes more than 3 million people to the risk of a limnic eruption
Sacrificed areas
Fossil fuel projects directly threaten forests, peatlands, protected areas, and other vital zones for communities and biodiversity.
- 8.3 million hectares of new oil blocks overlap with protected areas
- Another 8.6 million hectares overlap with key biodiversity areas.
- 66.8 million hectares, or 64% of the DRC's remaining intact forests, fall concessions
- The blocks also cover almost all of the Central Congo peatlands, which store around 30 gigatonnes of carbon
Economic mirage
Oil and gas do not deliver on their promises of development.
- In Muanda, decades of extraction have not ended poverty.
- Oil destroys essential livelihoods such as fishing and farming
- The benefits mainly go to foreign companies, while local communities bear the harm
Climate dead end
Oil and gas expansion directly contradicts the idea that the DRC can be a solution country to the climate crisis.
- 29 oil blocks cover 72% of the Green Corridor, one of the country's most emblematic conservation projects
- The Green Corridor is supposed to protect more than 100,000 km² of primary forest and 60,000 km² of peatlands
- These new blocks also threaten the Congo Basin's major carbon sinks and worsen the climate crisis.