Democratic Republic of Congo – Mobilising financial resources for climate change mitigation projects
The Democratic Republic of Congo boasts exceptional natural resources, a dense hydrographic network (including the Congo River basin, covering 3.7 million km²), and a growing population of over 90 million inhabitants. The national strategy for sustainable development focuses on the priority sectors of mining, agriculture, forestry and industrial expansion.
Created in 2002, the National Forestry Fund (FFN) for its French acronym, is responsible for ensuring the financing of reforestation, forest management, and any operations contributing to forest reconstitution. To reinforce its fundraising capabilities with a view to implementing the Congo’s Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement, the FFN benefited from technical assistance from the Intra-ACP GCCA+ programme.
The mission, which ended in April 2022, included two major tasks:
- To help identify the FFN’s strengths and weaknesses in order to devise a plan for capacity building that will allow the FFN to carry out the actions deemed as priorities by national authorities and local actors.
- To formulate a concrete strategy to mobilise funds, both internally (through local taxes) and through enhanced access to international finance institutions; as well as preparing a model concept note for a project, based on the objectives of the NDC, for which financing could be obtained using the newly established strategy and capabilities.
The process included extensive consultations with local stakeholders, on-site visits to the provinces, documentary research, and two seminars, one to launch the mission and one to validate the mission reports, where over 50 participants analysed the work carried out and made recommendations for the final version of the strategy.
NDC priorities related to the FFN’s mandate were taken into account, as was its capacity to mobilise local resources through potential partners that can support the strategy and help to consolidate the FFN’s standing as a key actor in fulfilling the Congo’s NDC.
“We hope that, having completed this first phase, our partner will not hesitate to help address the needs that have been identified in order to reinforce the capacities of the National Forestry Fund, allowing this public service to accomplish its mission”, said Dr Joseph Malasi Longunza, Climate Counselor and spokesperson for Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development Eve Bazaïba Masudi.
“Our wish is that this support will also be extended to other state institutions that participate in the mobilisation
of financial resources and to the development of projects in the area of climate change mitigation and, why not, also of climate change adaptation.”
Factbox
- Beneficiary: National Forestry Fund (FFN) of the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Dates of the intervention: 26 July 2021 to 29 April 2022
- Establishment of a capacity building plan for the FFN
- Preparation of a strategy to mobilise funds for climate projects
- Preparation of a concept note for the project entitled ‘Reforestation programme to reduce climate change impact, develop bio-coal and improved furnaces, and promote environmental services to benefit the inhabitants.’