At the 79th General Assembly of the United Nations, President Félix Tshisekedi reaffirmed the DRC’s commitment to strengthening its position in the global carbon market.

‘The DRC is putting in place legal instruments and institutional arrangements to consolidate its place in this market, while remaining open to partnerships in accordance with the Paris Agreement and its domestic laws’, he said.

In his speech, Tshisekedi also emphasised the urgent need to recognise the link between climate change, environmental degradation and security. He called on the Security Council to establish international mechanisms to include these issues in their discussions. ‘Awareness of the challenges posed by climate instability and the depletion of natural resources, which are often at the root of armed conflicts, underlines the urgent need for action,’ added the Congolese president.

With 152 million hectares of forest covering 67% of the national territory, the DRC has immense potential for carbon credits, particularly in terms of avoided deforestation. The DRC is home to 8% of the world’s forest carbon and is a key player in the fight against global warming. The government has adopted regulations to structure this market. The first is Ordinance-Law No. 23/007 of 03 March 2023 amending and supplementing Law No. 11/009 of 09 July 2011 on the fundamental principles of environmental protection. There is also Decree No. 23/22 of 14 June 2023 on the creation, organisation and operation of a public institution called the Carbon Market Regulatory Authority in the DRC, as well as the interministerial order of September 2023 of the Ministries of the Environment and Finance on the sharing of the portion of the benefits of carbon credits that should accrue to the Congolese State.

Last year, President Tshisekedi called for a fair price for carbon credits in order to support African countries that contribute to forest conservation. ‘It is incomprehensible that companies and governments are investing billions in artificial carbon capture technologies at USD 400 per tonne, when they are devoting just USD 5 per tonne to the conservation of tropical forests’, he had already stressed at a mini-summit in 2023. Tshisekedi also reaffirmed the DRC’s ambition to set aside 15% of its territory, i.e. 323,623 km², for biodiversity conservation by 2030. This includes the creation of 70 million hectares of conservation areas, 30 million of which will be dedicated to community conservation.

https://actualite.cd/2024/09/26/la-rdc-veut-consolider-sa-place-dans-le-marche-mondial-du-carbone