Democratic Republic of Congo - Black carbon inventory development

The Democratic Republic of Congo is taking ambitious action to tackle the challenges of climate change and air pollution simultaneously in view of their development imperatives. The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development is working with the Supporting National Planning (SNAP) Initiative to develop and build an integrated emission inventory of greenhouse gases, SLCPs and air pollutants. This work is paving the way for informed policy making and emission reduction strategies that will ultimately direct in-country benefits for health and development goals.

Situated in Central Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, from rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, increasing food insecurity, extreme weather events and infrastructure damage. At the same time, levels of air pollution that exceed World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines remain a major health risk particularly in urban centres such as the mega-city capital of Kinshasa, home to over 11 million of the 84 million people living in the DRC. These threats include breathing problems, chronic diseases and premature mortality, and are caused predominantly by polluting sectors including household energy, waste, agriculture and land-use.