Environment watchdog, 350Africa, has condemned the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government’s decision to open 52 new oil blocks in the Cuvette Centrale basin.
The campaigners stated that, the announcement, made during the Council of Ministers on Friday, May 2, 2025, is a direct threat to the Congo Basin’s vital ecosystems, the global climate, and the rights of communities living in and around these territories.
As a member of the “Notre Terre Sans Pétrole” coalition, 350Africa says it fully supports the coalition’s call for an immediate halt to the initiative and a full moratorium on oil and gas exploration across the country.
In 2023, a coalition of international NGOs including 350.org delivered a joint petition with over 100,000 signatures, urging the DRC Presidency to halt all new oil and gas developments in the country.
The activists describe the decision as not only a dangerous step backward in the global fight against climate change, but also an affront to the vision of the DRC as a “solution country” for climate, which the government has repeatedly promoted on the international stage.
Christian Hounkannou, Regional Organiser with 350Africa.org, said: “Oil expansion in the heart of the Congo Basin is a direct betrayal of climate justice and of communities fighting for dignity and clean, renewable energy. We cannot speak of just transition while destroying ecosystems and sidelining the voices of those most affected.
“The government’s claims of improved transparency and environmental safeguards do little to address the fundamental problem: fossil fuel expansion in one of the world’s most important carbon sinks is unacceptable. As the experience of Moanda and previous failed oil licensing rounds in 2022 and 2023 have shown, extractivism has brought pollution, conflict, and broken promises to communities – not development.
“We urge the DRC government to reverse this course and invest instead in people-centred renewable energy systems that protect forests, uphold the rights of Indigenous and local communities, and build real climate resilience. The future of Africa lies not in more oil wells, but in a just, inclusive transition to clean, renewable energy.”