By Leocadia Bongben
Representatives of civil society organisations, indigenous peoples and local communities, traditional authorities, community leaders, and public institutions from the countries of the Congo Basin gathered in Kinshasa during the second edition of the Regional CSO Conference and have called on stakeholders to review the finance mechanism.
On the occasion, Congo Basin CSOs have said that finance mechanisms, such as the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) and Initiative pour les forêts de l’Afrique centrale (CAFI), offer opportunities but remain insufficiently accessible and adapted to the realities of CSOs and IPs/CLs.
The Congo Basin CSOs affirmed their common commitment to defend the rights of communities, to protect forests, and to promote fair, inclusive, and transparent climate governance. They made a strong call for governments, donors, technical and financial partners, and regional and international institutions to put an end to deforestation, to the illegal and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, and to the extractivist logic inherited from the colonial development model to promote governance based on justice, the sovereignty of peoples, and sustainability.
“Invest in ecologically responsible and socially just development models, including agroecology, local resource processing, green jobs, and reforestation programmes. Promote rights-based conservation that fully recognises the rights of local communities and indigenous peoples, ensuring their effective participation in ecosystem management and decision-making,” the release reads.
The stakeholders equally demand the recognition, protection, and respect of and promote the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities by incorporating their knowledge, voices, and priorities into public policy and legislation.
“We demand that the countries of the North assume their historic responsibilities by paying their climate debt, stopping polluting, and supporting the resilience and adaptation efforts of the countries of the South with sufficient, unconditional funding for the protection of the forests of the Congo Basin.”
These demands were formulated within the context of the forests of the Congo Basin, the world’s second-largest ecological lung, seriously threatened by massive deforestation, the illegal and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, and the conversion of land for industrial and extractive purposes.
The CSOs denounce a national and regional context marked by inequalities in access to information, to participation in decision-making processes, to the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the exploitation of natural resources, and to climate financing. Besides, the CSOs have taken a commitment to strengthening regional mobilisation to ensure that the voice of CSOs, IPs/CLs, and traditional authorities is heard in national, regional, and international decision-making forums, particularly with a view to COP30.
Congo Basin CSOs urge stakeholders to invest in sustainable solutions, such as agroecology, local wood processing for better added value, green jobs, and community reforestation programmes. Continue to evaluate carbon projects to identify the virtuous and harmful aspects and draw lessons for their implementation in the various countries of the Congo Basin. They equally commit to ensuring the monitoring and evaluation of the commitments made by setting up a participatory accountability mechanism and capitalising on the results.