14 DAY TRIAL // The United Nations has recently announced that oil and gas giant Total has no intention of carrying out exploration and/or exploitation activities in World Heritage Sites across the world.
Thus, the company has recently presented written confirmation that its plans for the future do not include extracting fossil fuels from the over 200 World Heritage Sites the world currently has.
Mongabay tells us that, presently, an increasing number of oil and gas companies are looking into the possibility of exploiting protected regions.
This is because fossil fuel reserves that are easily accessible are running out, and the industry needs to find news ones in order to keep up and running.
For example, Soco International is now carrying out seismic testing in the Democratic Republic or Congo's Virunga National Park, and one other company, i.e. Pluspetrol, is exploring an area that currently serves as a buffer zone for Peru's Manu National Park.
According to the same source, exploring and exploiting World Heritage Sites such are the Virunga National Park and the Manu National Park can translate into these regions' losing their protected status.
This can happen as a result of their losing part of their overall surface to drilling and other similar activities, as was the case with Oman's Arabian Oryx Sanctuary.
Thus, this region ceased to be a World Heritage Site back in 2007, after 90% of its surface started being exploited for oil.
Commenting on Total's promise not to exploit World Heritage Sites, Julia Marton-Lefèvre, the director general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature said that, “Total's commitment clearly shows that operating in World Heritage sites is not an option for responsible extractive industries.”
“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,” Julia Marton-Lefèvre went on to say.