The Congo Basin spans six Central African countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Republic of the Congo. The basin is home to the world’s second largest rainforest, measuring 500 million acres, and hundreds of thousands of local species. In the past decade, however, the rainforest has faced the encroaching threat of commercial agriculture and resource exploitation. Since 2013, expansion in commercial agriculture and the logging industry throughout Africa has destroyed thousands of acres of forest.
Most of this agro conversion is done illegally, as companies fail to obtain the proper license or blatantly violate allotted boundaries and other legislation. For example, the European company Norsudtimber has illegal logging sites throughout 40,000 square kilometers of rainforest. The new farmland and extraction sites are mainly a result of a high global demand for valuable natural resources. Companies harvest palm oil and rubber or oil from the 16 blocs located throughout the forested region. Further exacerbating the uncontrolled deforestation is a lack of local government capacity, especially in terms of financial resources or incentives to adequately protect their forests. The combined demand for resources and lack of an effective counter to illegal practices has led to a steady increase in deforestation.
Deforestation and Climate Change
Deforestation in the Congo Basin goes beyond the scope of Central Africa as it ties into the larger issue of global climate change. The destruction of tropical forests affects global warming because the various trees and vegetation remove carbon from the atmosphere through a process known as sequestration. Deforestation releases carbon back into the atmosphere and limits the potential for further reabsorption. If global deforestation persists at its current rate, the resulting emissions will use up nearly 20% of the emissions budget established in the Paris Agreement.
The effects of deforestation and the resulting expedited global warming has already started to impact Americans in tangible ways. Most recently, much of the East Coast was subjected to dangerous air quality as a result of Canadian wildfires. These wildfires are enhanced by the drier climate created through global warming. As wildfires increase in size and severity, they expedite emissions and further the global warming process to create a dangerous cycle.
The Current Approach
In 2021, President Biden released an executive order about combating climate change that led to The Plan to Conserve Global Forests: Critical Carbon Sinks. This plan emphasizes an economic approach to preventing deforestation through methods of increasing investment in conservationist programs and offering “debt-for-nature swaps.” These “swaps” allow nations indebted to the United States to instead redirect that money towards conservation.
The Biden Administration has identified climate change, including the specific concern of deforestation, as significant threats to the US. The administration is actively taking measures to tackle this problem. For example, Biden signed onto a joint donor statement with several other countries and the Bezos’ Earth Fund to pledge $1.5 billion between 2021-2025 towards protecting the Congo Basin forests. Since then, in 2022, Biden released an executive order outlining his administration’s goals on preventing deforestation both locally and internationally as a protection against climate change and other environmental issues. As part of this order, Biden tasked his cabinet with creating a proposed plan of action around illegal production on deforested lands, including working with local governments on enforcing forest-protecting law. These steps represent a foreign policy focused on monetary aid towards eliminating deforestation and a direct acknowledgement of the situation within the Congo Basin.
Extent of Involvement
Some argue that the current aid and actions taken by the US to combat deforestation in the Congo Basin are enough. One concern about increasing involvement is the associated cost. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) recognizes the substantial financial and time commitment required for analysis before allocating more aid. Considering the significant financial support already provided by the US, it’s unclear if additional funding is necessary. Apart from financial aid, the US Forest Service collaborates with universities and NGOs in Congo Basin countries to establish an institutional approach to forest conservation. This type of support primarily aims to empower these countries to address deforestation internally. This raises the question of whether working at the national level is sufficient or if the US should take a more direct role.
An alternative approach to the issue is for the US and local governments to rely on the indigenous communities to regulate the forests instead of getting involved themselves. In 2018, the DRC granted the Nkala people the right to govern a portion of the rainforest, and since then the territory has seen a diversification in crops, improved protection against extreme weather, and general sustainability. These systems do not, however, address the issue of resource demand and weak government protection for those indigenous communities.
Increasing Aid
The Interfaith Rainforest Initiative provides an argument for greater direct involvement. While the present deforestation emissions are minor, they contribute to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions when considering forest regrowth. Halting deforestation and promoting reforestation could potentially cut global emissions by over 30%. This is because the approach prevents emissions and allows for more CO2 removal as new forests grow. These findings justify the call for greater US engagement, not only to reduce emissions but also to initiate a reversal of the climate change trend.
One possible way to get involved is by establishing trade guidelines. Trade historically has worked as a means to promote American international interests such as the Environmental Cooperation Agreement within the US’s Free Trade Agreement with Peru. Whether it is creating a fleshed out trade agreement with environmental provisions or just creating more guidelines to prevent the trade/resell of materials illegally extracted from deforestation, the US can take a stronger commercial policy stance.
Environmentalists and other individuals with strong demands for increased involvement see a need for more direct approaches, such as increasing USAID funding to promote donations towards combating deforestation. As of April 2023, USAID’s Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) has already invested more than $600 million to tackle the many components of the deforestation issue. Biden’s budget proposal looks to increase funding for USAID and directly financially support African nations in conservationist measures.
Decreasing Aid and Other Alternatives
Some are vehemently opposed to Biden’s foreign aid budget as part of an alternative spending plan. Some individuals aim to reduce spending and trim the government budget to address the debt crisis. This approach involves cutting areas considered less essential. For some, providing financial assistance to the Congo Basin might be seen as a potentially unnecessary expense. Some individuals view providing financial aid to the Congo Basin as potentially unnecessary. This perspective is partly rooted in concerns about corruption and inefficient use of US contributions, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Funds acquired through the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) are not directly given to the Congolese government due to corruption fears. Nevertheless, the DRC’s environmental minister has highlighted the significant loss of funds to administrative expenses under the existing system. Given this unclear monetary aid setup, those against involvement in the region contend that it may not be worthwhile.
In addition, some argue that deforestation within the Congo Basin is beneficial because of the many resources produced from the newly opened areas. The US could benefit from the resources procured through increased mining projects such as oil and cobalt. The US government’s trade profile on the DRC labels the country as “in a strategic position for the energy transition” because of its “substantial untapped gold, cobalt, and high-grade copper reserves.” Some believe the US stands to gain large quantities of critical minerals if it invests in future mining projects rather than preventing deforestation in the Congo Basin.
Beyond the US gains, the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) shows that countries in early development stages are expected to see large jumps in carbon emissions. The rise in deforestation within Central Africa follows the initial part of the EKC. All the while, if Congo Basin countries transitions towards manufacturing over agriculture (part of the developing progression), then deforestation is predicted to decrease. Deforestation may be a temporary and necessary part of Central African development. In fact, members of the Global South have expressed resentment towards the more industrialized nations’ supposed environmentalist stance because the countries promoting environmental protections within Africa are the same nations who historically exploited natural resources to reach their current standing.
The issue of deforestation within the Congo Basin is multifaceted with environmental, financial, and political concerns combining to reach a range of conclusions around how involved the US should really be. Within the US, addressing climate change is now a priority for 52% of voters. With that being said, people disagree if the Congo Basin is the best avenue for combating climate change.
