Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, hosted from October 26 to 28, the summit of the three great tropical forest basins of the planet: Amazonia, Congo and Borneo Mekong.
These Basins represent 80% of the world's plant cover and around three quarters of its biodiversity.
At least 3,000 people representing governments, but also international organizations, NGOs, civil society, scientists, researchers, environmentalists and indigenous populations took part in this event.
At least ten Heads of State from the continent (Congo, DR Congo, Burundi Central African Republic, Comoros, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Sao Tome and Principe) responded. On the other hand, no president of Amazonia and Borneo has traveled to Brazzaville.
Colombia and Venezuela respectively delegated their ministers of external relations and that of foreign affairs.
The main objectives of the summit were, among other things, to build a global coalition to accelerate the energy transition and to strengthen collaboration between these basins, recognized as the great lungs of the planet, in order to go further.
In the declaration sanctioning the work, the participants reaffirmed the commitment to lay the foundations of a road map to move towards the construction of a common framework of cooperation between the three basins.
However, during the summit, President Félix Tshsekedi of the DRC, whose country alone covers 62% of the Congo Basin's forests, deplored the destruction of ecosystems by a neighboring country.
“There is currently happening in the Virunga Park (Eastern DRC, Editor's note), one of the most important natural reserves in the world, in terms of forests and biodiversity, an armed activism which is undermining this ecosystem, which is destroying it. . And, this was not decided in Washington, Brussels, London or Paris. But, this was decided in Africa, more precisely in Kigali,” he regretted.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, French Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Lula spoke by videoconference to welcome the initiative.
For his part, Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso gave all the quintessence of the meeting:
“This summit will focus mainly on, among other things, the definition of a governance plan within the framework of a new multilateralism, through a cooperation agreement, with a view to a global alliance of the three basins,” said he indicated.
At the Brazzaville summit on the three tropical forest basins, the second of its kind after that of 2011, the participants wanted these meetings to be held at regular intervals. They also hoped that these three forest groups would speak the same language at the next COP28 scheduled for November in the United Arab Emirates.
Nigeria: energy and immigration at the center of Scholz’s visit
Olaf Scholz spoke with Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Sunday in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. At the center of discussions between the German Chancellor and the Nigerian President: the economy and immigration among others.
Nigeria is Germany's second largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa. The volume of trade between the two countries is estimated at 3 billion euros per year.
Oil and gas are among the main sectors of cooperation. While his country faces a "considerable" demand for natural gas in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Olaf Scholz said in an interview with the Lagos-based Journal Punch that German gas traders are discussing Nigerian producers on ''concrete quantities'' of supply.
Nigeria has Africa's largest proven gas reserves - estimated at 202 trillion cubic feet.
“There are many possibilities, not only in the field of gas and oil, but also to better use the capacities of your country and to invest in the future, that is to say in hydrogen,” he said. said Olaf Scholz.
Immigration was also on the agenda of the discussions. The German Chancellor has proposed joint management of the issue.
This is the German Chancellor's third trip to Africa since taking office in 2021 and the second this year.