Kinshasa, 23 September 2022 – A popular climate march was held in Limeté/Kinshasa this Friday, September 23, calling on African leaders days before the PreCOP27 climate conference to step up their actions against climate change. Under the initiative of the Youth Movement for the Protection of the Environment (MJPE), more than 300 activists from Greenpeace Africa, together with various environmental civil society organizations in the Democratic Republic of Congo participated with the theme “I walk for the future “..
“The time has come for African leaders, especially Congolese leaders, to take life-saving decisions aimed at keeping the country in a position to solve the problem of climate change, thanks to its immense potential in natural resources”, declared Bonaventure Bondo, coordinator of the MJPE.
Indeed, at a time when the impacts of climate change are breaking records around the world, Africans in general and the Congolese in particular must fight for their survival, although they are hardly responsible for this pollution. .
Thus, on the sidelines of the COP27 to be held on the African continent this year, the concerns of Africa must be put at the center of the negotiations in order to recall once again the urgency for each party to honor its commitments. taken since Paris (COP21), to enable Africa to adapt to the new deal of climate change
“We expect concrete and urgent actions in favor of the climate from this COP27. On this, we want climate justice for Africa and call on the major powers to respect their commitments in terms of climate financing” adds Bonaventure Bondo.
As a reminder, the DRC launched a tender for 30 blocks of oil and gas in July 2022, overlapping peatlands and protected areas, including Virunga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Scientists and NGOs both national and international have warned of the catastrophic impacts of this tender on local rights and the well-being of communities in the DRC, biodiversity and the global climate. They also reject oil and gas as a risk to the country’s peace and development.
“We ask the Congolese government to think about investing in renewable and less polluting energies by abandoning the promotion of fossil fuels responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions at the root of climate change” concludes Patient Muamba, Congo Basin forest campaigner at Greenpeace Africa.
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Photos and videos of the march are available upon request.
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