Happy Nice Mall

My colleague Dionne Sercey is gone on a trip Along the Congo River, the destruction of a rainforest crucial to efforts to curb global warming has exposed the haphazardly sprawling timber industry, most of which is illegal.

The article describes issues very similar to what I saw in my report in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil: widespread deforestation, a community dependent on an illegal industry, and a history of corrupt leadership.

There is one fundamental difference though.

While Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro refuses to recognize the problem and actively weakens environmental protection policies, Democratic Republic of the Congo President Félix Tshisekedi wants his country to become a climate leader.

Congo and Brazil are home to the world’s two largest parcels of rainforest. Government policies will shape the ability of these forests to remain powerful carbon sinks and shelters. almost half of the world’s species.

I spoke with Dionne to understand the similarities and differences between the two countries.

manual: The forests of Brazil and the Democratic Republic of the Congo seem to face very similar challenges. But President Jair Bolsonaro’s response has been to turn a blind eye to environmental crimes. How does the current leadership in Congo see these problems?

Dionne: People in power are now expressing their will to conserve the nation’s resources and go to global climate conferences and grumble with President Biden and other Western leaders to gather attention and resources to protect their forests. Congolese officials recently recruited DC lobbyist push for support on climate issues, among other economic issues.

“We have incredible potential for renewable energy, whether through our strategic metals or our rivers,” he said, referring to both mining and hydroelectric power last year, when I met with President Tshisekedi. “Our idea is how can we put this wonderful resource at the service of the world, but while making sure that it benefits Congolese and Africans first?”

manual: This reminds me of the movement Brazil went through in the 1980s after the end of the military dictatorship that ruled the country for decades. Democratic governments began to create very restrictive laws and to assemble powerful environmental protection agencies. Was there a similar moment when attitudes changed in the DRC?

Dionne: President Tshisekedi came to power in a controversial election after decades of corrupt leaders. The United States and other Western countries have long wanted his predecessor, former President Joseph Kabila, to fall from power, and as such President Tshisekedi has strong American support – and the ear of US diplomats pushing a climate agenda. But after spending the first years of his tenure building support for his leadership at home, he has had little time to push through his climate efforts and now faces political tensions with neighboring Rwanda, in addition to being re-elected.

manual: Officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo said that almost everyone involved in logging has violated the law in one way or another, and this is clear. In Brazil, we see many Amazon cities at the heart of their economies, with illegal land grabs, mining or logging. What are the forces at play driving this fact in DRC?

Dionne: Many people living in the jungles of the Congo are just trying to survive. Forests are mostly cut down to be able to farm or make charcoal for fires, but industrial and so-called artisanal (or smaller-scale) logging plays a role in deforestation. There are multiple forces in the Congo that make it complicated to replace corrupt systems, beginning generations ago and even going back to colonialism. The country has faced wars and has a series of corrupt leaders who use the country’s rich natural resources as piggy banks. It is not easy to solve such structural problems. And the collapse of government in general leads to fiefdoms in remote areas of the jungle.

manual: Many observers think that the reason conservation policies have not survived under the current administration in Brazil is that they have not focused on job creation in non-destructive industries. Is the leadership in Congo considering this part of the issue?

Dionne: This conversation is the subject of endless academic seminars and government meetings in Congo and around the world. There are many organizations that are experimenting with projects in small spaces, but no one seems to have a silver bullet solution yet. The World Bank started providing financing a few years ago. A sustainability program in the state of Mai Ndombe, paying for acacia seedlings that residents can plant on degraded land and then use for charcoal and construction. And logging companies technically need to implement social projects in communities where they cut down trees. But residents say these deals aren’t always ratified.

manual: One of the things that seems most striking to me about the environmental crisis in the Amazon is that many of the things that have been devastatingly harvested, for example skin and gold is sold cheaply to wealthier countries, who then make far greater profits from the products produced. How do people in the Congo Basin view this imbalance?

Dionne: The people I met in the Congo were devastated by this imbalance while reporting on the natural resources (cobalt and trees) that matter globally. Some loggers I’ve met make $6 a day to release their logs, a dangerous and potentially deadly business. when i report a series on cobaltWorking in dire conditions, most miners did not know where cobalt was going, a metal used for electric vehicle and iPhone batteries. When I told them, their hearts were broken.

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Before you go: #Peethechange you want to see

Peecyclers turn human urine into fertilizer. sounds funny Because he. But also serious. The Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a fertilizer shortage that threatened the world’s food supply. But it’s not just that. Chemical fertilizers often come from fossil fuels that contribute to global warming. Turning urine into fertilizer can begin to overcome these challenges and can also save water flushed down the toilet. Word games are just a bonus.

Thank you for reading. We’ll be back on Friday.

Claire O’Neill, Sarah Graham, and Douglas Alteen contributed to Climate Forward.

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