Name: The crucial role of Congos rainforest
Uploaded: 2025-11-12T15:08:47.784Z
Duration: 1 min 33 s
Description: At COP30 in Brazil, leaders are highlighting the Congo rainforest’s crucial role as the world’s largest carbon sink. Despite storing 91 billion tons of carbon, it faces rapid deforestation, with the DRC losing 590,000 hectares in 2024.

At COP30 in Brazil, leaders are highlighting the Congo rainforest’s crucial role as the world’s largest carbon sink. Despite storing 91 billion tons of carbon, it faces rapid deforestation, with the DRC losing 590,000 hectares in 2024.

Kinshasa

The Congo Basin rainforest, covering 268 million hectares across six Central African countries, stores 91 billion tons of carbon and is the world's largest net carbon sink. Despite its importance, the region faces daily threats from deforestation, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo losing 590,000 hectares of primary forest in 2024, ranking third globally in forest loss.

At COP30 in Brazil, African leaders highlighted the need for global solidarity, noting that the Congo Basin receives less conservation funding than the Amazon or Southeast Asian rainforests. In response, France plans to introduce the Belem call for the Congo Basin, aiming to mobilize 2.5 billion euros over five years to halt and reverse deforestation in the region.

The crucial role of Congo's rainforest

It's a collection of forests spanning six countries in Central Africa and covering 268 million hectares, almost five times the size of France. This massive rainforest in the Congo Basin is smaller and less famous than the Amazon. But with 91 billion tons of carbon stored in 2020, or 10 times the annual emissions of the global energy sector, it represents the largest net carbon sink in the world. This rainforest, vital for the survival of our planet, is threatened each day by deforestation. At COP30 in Brazil, African leaders are calling for solidarity. The climate crisis is not only an environmental crisis, it is also a crisis of justice and equity. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is home to the largest share of the Congo rainforest. In 2024, it saw 590,000 hectares of primary tropical forest disappear, representing the third-largest forest loss in the world behind Brazil and Bolivia. In addition, the Congo Basin rainforests receive less global funding for conservation than the Amazon or Southeast Asian rainforests. Hoping to fill this gap, France plans to present an initiative next week at COP30. This Belem call for the Congo Basin rainforests brings together European countries, international funds, and banks. It aims to mobilize 2.5 billion euros over five years to halt and reverse deforestation in the region.

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