香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 welcomes Total鈥檚 鈥榥o-go鈥 commitment in World Heritage sites
Oil and gas company Total has confirmed that it will not carry out extractive operations within natural World Heritage sites, including Virunga National Park. 香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 welcomes this decision and calls on all oil and gas companies to follow suit.
香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播, which is the official advisory body to UNESCO on natural World Heritage, has made repeated calls in the past on extractive industries and governments that licence their activities to stop oil and gas exploration and exploitation within World Heritage sites. Until now, Royal Dutch Shell plc was the only oil and gas company to have made such a commitment. Total鈥檚 commitment has now been officially communicated in a letter to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
鈥淭otal鈥檚 commitment clearly shows that operating in World Heritage sites is not an option for responsible extractive industries,鈥 says Julia Marton-Lef猫vre, 香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 Director General. 鈥淚t 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鈥檚 most valuable and irreplaceable places. We call on all extractive companies, and the governments who regulate them, to declare World Heritage sites as 鈥榥o-go鈥 zones.鈥
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.
Total鈥檚 鈥榥o-go鈥 commitment takes some of the pressure off Virunga National Park. It also indicates that the company will respect the current boundaries of the park even if part of the park鈥檚 protection is removed. Despite Total鈥檚 announcement, another UK-based company SOCO is pursuing extractive operations in an area overlapping Virunga.
鈥淪tate Parties to the World Heritage Convention and private companies need to respect the long-established principle that World Heritage sites are off-limits for the extractive industry,鈥 says Tim Badman, Director of 香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 World Heritage Programme. 鈥淲e welcome Total鈥檚 positive step torward the protection of natural World Heritage, and in particular for Virunga National Park and its spectacular wildlife.鈥
Virunga National Park is home to some 100 remaining mountain gorillas and ranks as one of the top biodiversity sites in Africa. It was established in 1925 as Africa鈥檚 first national park and in 1979 became one of the first World Heritage sites. It also features on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.
Despite being listed as a World Heritage site in Danger for 20 years, threats to the park remain highly critical and include oil exploration, armed conflict, illegal wildlife trade and occupation.
Global response to the threats affecting World Heritage sites and other protected areas around the world will be discussed at the forthcoming 香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 World Parks Congress, to be held in from 12-19 November 2014 in Sydney, Australia. 听
For more information or to set up interviews, please contact:
Ewa Magiera, 香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 Media Relations, m +41 79 856 76 26, [email protected]
C茅lia Zwahlen, 香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 World Heritage Programme, t +41 22 999 0716 [email protected]
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