hard choices

Oil & Gas: As much as we need oxygen, we also need bread, says DRC’s Masudi

By Anne-Marie Bissada

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Posted on November 14, 2022 12:53

© DRC’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Environment, Eve Bazaiba Masudi, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. (photo: DRC government) — DRC’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Environment, Eve Bazaiba Masudi, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. (photo: DRC government)

Rainforests cover about 60% of DRC, including much of the Congo Basin – the second-largest rainforest complex in the world after the Amazon. It’s also the only major rainforest that absorbs more carbon than it emits, which is why plans to explore part of it for hydrocarbon development by the government are receiving much pushback from the West. But the government says it needs both “oxygen and bread”, the DRC’s Deputy PM Eve Bazaiba Masudi tells The Africa Report.

Funding for renewable energy projects in Africa remains a top item at this year’s COP27 climate conference. The discrepancy between what needs to be done and having the resources to do it is an ongoing debate.

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