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<\/figure>\n\nYesterday, DRC\u2019s Oil Minister Didier Budimbu announced<\/a> the auction covers 27 oil and three gas fields, exceeding the government\u2019s decision in April<\/a>, potentially without a legal mandate. The April plan encompassed an area more than 240,000 km\u00b2 \u2013 an area about 300 times the size of Nairobi. The decision came only five months after the signing of a $500 million deal at the COP26<\/a> to help protect DRC\u2019s forests with the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n \u201cThis auction not only makes a mockery of DRC\u2019s posturing as a solution country<\/a> for the climate crisis \u2013 it exposes Congolese people to corruption, violence, and poverty that inevitably come with the curse of oil, as well as more heat waves and less rains for all Africans, said Irene Wabiwa, International Project Lead for the Congo forest campaign at Greenpeace Africa. <\/p>\n\n In a field trip last week to four of the designated oil blocks, Greenpeace Africa\u2019s forest campaigners collected testimonies from local communities that were all shocked about the prospective auction of their lands to oil companies. Some communities, such as those living around the Upemba national park, see the prospective oil exploration as a direct threat to the lake they rely on for generations and are planning to resist it.<\/p>\n\n In a letter sent to oil and gas companies in Africa, Europe and the US, Greenpeace warns of oil blocks overlapping carbon-rich peatlands. In a recent article, Prof. Simon Lewis of the University of Leeds notes four blocks overlapping peatlands that store 5.8 billion tons of carbon<\/a> \u2013 that is equivalent to more than 15 percent of global energy-related CO2 emissions in 2021<\/a>. According to the International Energy Agency<\/a>, any new fossil fuel project today would undermine reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 and this auction would be particularly toxic. <\/p>\n\n \u201cThe international community and the Congolese government must end the neocolonial scramble for African fossil fuels by restricting oil companies\u2019 access to the DRC, focusing instead on ending energy poverty through supporting clean, decentralised renewable energies\u201d added Irene Wabiwa.<\/p>\n\n Contrary to repeated claims<\/a> by Minister Budimbu that none of the oil and gas blocks to be auctioned lies within Protected Areas, official maps show that nine do<\/a>. The Minister acknowledged his miscommunication on 13 June. Following the augmentation of the auction, the updated number of blocks overlapping Protected Areas may be as high as 12. <\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n It remains unclear which oil companies are planning to bid in the auction. In a petition launched by Greenpeace with local and international partners, almost 100,000 people call on Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi not to sacrifice the rainforest to the oil industry.<\/p>\n\n This auction is taking place in the midst of a new global scramble<\/a> for African fossil fuels reserves, from West African gas<\/a>, through East African oil<\/a>, even to importing South African coal<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2022\/07\/81c6ba1e-gp0str4px_web_size_with_credit_line.jpg\")