This interview is part of a series with the Blended Finance Project a group of unions, non-governmental organizations and academics who are concerned about the Canadian government’s embrace of what is called “blended finance.” We argue that blended finance is merely the latest iteration of the privatization and fi

Tensions are spiking once again in the chronically turbulent eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The M23 rebel movement — widely thought to be long dead — has dramatically resurrected. And DRC president Félix Tshisekedi has accused Rwandan president Paul Kagame of again backing it with military support.

• At the COP26 climate summit, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Féelix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo announced a $500 million aid package to protect forests in the Central African country.
• Part of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, the announcement was one of the top headlines at the summit.

L'écrasante majorité des investissements fonciers en Afrique ne prend pas suffisamment en compte les populations locales, d'après un rapport du Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement paru lundi. Une situation qui a aussi des conséquences négatives pour le reste du monde. 

• The Democratic Republic of Congo is putting 16 oil exploration blocks up for auction, including nine in the peatlands of the Cuvette Centrale.
• Environmentalists warn that oil exploration and infrastructure for production could release huge amounts of carbon stored in the peatland and threaten the rights of local communities.

• The publication of an audit of forestry contracts in the Democratic Republic of Congo has exposed serious management failures.
• The audit cites serial breaches of the country’s forest code and more than a dozen violations of a 2002 moratorium on new concessions.

Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Burundi are set to benefit from a regional initiative dubbed “Transforming Agri-Food Systems in West and Central Africa (TAFS-WCA)” which is aimed to increase food security and combat climate crisis.

• Audit says ministry gave illegal permits, didn’t collect taxes

• Publication is step to unlocking $500 million in climate funds

Kinandu village residents in southern Democratic Republic of Congo are taking part in a reforestation initiative in the miombo woodlands while land grabs are simultaneously on the rise.

• An investigation by El País/Planeta Futuro has found evidence of irregularities in the allocation of “conservation concessions” and carbon-trading schemes in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Communities living adjacent to the PHC oil palm plantations in DRC face arrests, beatings, and extrajudicial killings at the hands of private security and police.

Under the majority ownership of Kuramo Capital Management (KCM), conditions have recently further deteriorated — with violent repression of workers on strike.