The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) positions itself as a key player in the fight against climate change, dubbing itself a “solution country.”. Multiple studies highlight the critical role of its forest cover in both global and national ecology. Yet paradoxically, the country receives far less climate financing than it should. What explains this funding gap?

The DRC holds significant assets: vast reserves of strategic minerals essential for energy transition (copper, cobalt, lithium) and extensive forest coverage accounting for 60% of the Congo Basin’s tropical forests. These forests are invaluable in combating global warming, making their preservation crucial.

However, climate financing remains inadequate. The National Fund for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (FONAREDD), established in 2012, has only secured $750 million, including $500 million from CAFI. Other donors, such as the United States, France, and the World Bank, often prefer their own funding channels, making coordination challenging.

Several factors contribute to this funding shortfall. Institutional constraints, particularly related to governance and corruption, restrict access to funds. The international climate finance architecture, which favors mitigation efforts, also disadvantages the DRC in favor of industrialized nations.

Ecosystem preservation carries substantial economic and social costs, especially considering these areas contain other natural resources vital for national development. Without adequate financial compensation, achieving domestic buy-in for conservation initiatives remains challenging.

To increase climate financing, the DRC must address several challenges: enhance transparency and accountability, combat corruption, improve the business environment, and strengthen oversight of strategic resource exploitation. While natural assets are necessary to attract climate financing, they alone are not sufficient.

Learn more about climate financing in the DRC by reading our two reports at  www.ebuteli.org