Climate change: REBAC calls for protection of Congo Basin as Earth’s second lung
By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Ecclesial Network for the Congo River Basin (REBAC) has celebrated the Congo Basin as the second “lung” of the Earth, calling for its protection to fight climate change.
REBAC, a Catholic network that includes Cameroon, Congo, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Central African Republic.
Prince Papa, coordinator of the Laudato Si’ Movement in Africa, told Catholic News Service, that “The Congo Basin — a major geographic region rich biodiversity — is very important not only for Africa, but the entire world.
“We must ensure that it is protected because many creatures and creation depend on it.”
Speakers during the online conference reiterated support for Indigenous people as custodians of biodiversity, highlighted the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change and their interconnectedness, and spoke against the rapid deforestation occurring in the Congo Basin.
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They also called for an end to oil exploration and the protection of Virunga National Park in Congo.
Henri Muhiya Musabate, executive secretary of Congo’s Episcopal Commission on Natural Resources, told the virtual conference that most national budgets in Congo Basin countries are funded through mining, oil and forestry, but such activities were harming the countries and the people.
“Extractive incomes are not profitable to populations and to the development of countries,” Musabate said.
Most of the countries are in poverty, he added, and experience armed conflicts over access to natural resources. He also highlighted illicit arms sales, weak governance and forced migration, among other challenges.
The effects of climate change are visible in the Congo Basin, Musabate said, citing increased flooding, droughts, disruption of seasons and rising temperatures.
He said people must learn how to convince countries in the Congo Basin to stop exploiting hydrocarbons to fund their budgets and how to fight hunger by reducing the areas farmed by families living in the forests.
