February 2014: Oil and gas giant Total has confirmed in a letter to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre that it will not carry out extractive operations within natural World Heritage sites, including Virunga National Park. Until now, Royal Dutch Shell plc was the only oil and gas company to have made such a commitment.
“Total’s commitment clearly shows that operating in World Heritage sites is not an option for responsible extractive industries,” says Julia Marton-Lefèvre, IUCN Director General. “It gives us hope that the oil and gas, and mining sectors as a whole will fully embrace their shared responsibility towards the conservation of our planet’s most valuable and irreplaceable places. We call on all extractive companies, and the governments who regulate them, to declare World Heritage sites as ‘no-go’ zones.”
Threats from the extractive industry are particularly serious in Africa, where one in four natural sites is affected. Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been at highest risk in recent years, after the Congolese Government granted permits to carry out exploration in the park.
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