On 1 February 2021 Environment Minister Claude NYAMUGABO BAZIBUE submitted a letter to the Executive Secretary of the Gaborone Declaration for Sustainability in Africa (GDSA), Dr Ruud JANSEN, stating the wish of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to adhere to the GDSA and join the list of signatories.
This milestone follows the launch of the GEF6 Project “GLOBE Legislators Advancing REDD+ and Natural Capital Governance towards the Delivery of the 2030 Agenda” in Kinshasa in December 2020. At the launch, participants including the legislators affiliated to GLOBE DRC and national project stakeholders were briefed of the aims of the project. In the DRC it will focus on strenghtening forest governance and funding through the adoption of a legal and institutional framework for REDD+; and embedding the “natural capital approach” to decision-making across Government departments, on the basis of environmental economic accounting data.
Participating in the processes of the Gaborone Declaration for Sustainability in Africa will grant the Congolese government access to best international practices on ecosystem valuation and natural capital accounting (NCA), including support to identify funding opportunities for national NCA efforts; promoting environmentally responsible private sector initiatives, focusing particularly on agriculture, fisheries, extractives, and renewable energy; innovative conservation financing, and on generating data and building capacity to support policy networks, as data and monitoring are essential for incorporating natural capital into decision-making and pursuing sustainable production.
One of the short-term outcomes is that the DRC will join the Community of practice on Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) launched in November 2019 in Kampala, Uganda, at the first ‘Africa Forum on Natural Capital Accounting’ with representatives from 18 African countries. NCA and the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) provide a way to generate consistent and comparable data on natural resources – such as land, forests, and water – and their interaction with the economy, including the ecosystem services that natural resources provide. The Community of Practice will identify common challenges and opportunities and discuss how countries can support each other in mainstreaming natural capital considerations into policy.
The day-long forum was co-organized by the Gaborone Declaration for Sustainability in Africa (GDSA), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), and the World Bank through its Global Program on Sustainability (GPS). The Government of Uganda hosted the event and welcomed the participants by providing opening statements.
The Community of Practice will be supported by the World Bank, the Gaborone Declaration for a Sustainable Africa (GDSA), the United Nations Statistcs Division (UNSD) and the Government of Netherlands.
