Congo to auction land to oil firms
- Congo, home to the largest old-growth rainforests on Earth is auctioning land to become new destination for oil investments.
Associated concerns
- Land to be auctioned covers
- Virunga National Park, world's most important gorilla sanctuary
- Tropical peatlands that store vast amounts of carbon
- Global climate catastrophe will occur If oil exploitation takes place in these areas.
Global action
- At Glasgow summit, Congo endorsed 10-year agreement to protect its rainforest, part of Congo Basin, which is second in size only to the Amazon.
- Since then, world's immediate priorities have shifted.
- Russia's invasion of Ukraine raised oil prices and led to American and British bans on Russian energy.
- Norway, leading advocate of saving forests, is increasing oil production
- US President who pledged to decrease the use of fossil fuels, recently raised need for more oil production.
- Amidst all, Congo President said now its priority is not to save planet.
Prelims Take Away
- Location based questions
- Glasgow summit
- Virunga National Park