PRECOP 27

The first part of the visit focused on getting acquainted with the DRC and Congolese civil society, an opportunity that Minister Khattabi wanted to seize during her visit. Minister Khattabi spoke to a number of environment and climate specialists working in the Democratic Republic of Congo about their local experience with the current climate and biodiversity crisis. This has raised expectations about COP27, which will be held from 6 to 18 November in the Arab Republic of Egypt. A visit was also scheduled to Texaf Bilembo, a local initiative dedicated to raising awareness about Congo's rich biodiversity and how to manage it sustainably.

After that, the pre-COP began, the last political consultation before the COP. The main ambition of this meeting is to seek potential "landing sites" at the political level on key issues of the next COP. This Pre-COP also provided a platform for the DRC and Africa to make their own priorities more visible. The program of the Pré-COP focused on four thematic discussions that will also be further discussed during COP27 in Sharm-El Sheikh, namely; Climate Adaptation, Mitigation, Climate Finance, as well as Loss and Damage. Discussions have been constructive and a good basis has been established for further negotiations in Sharm al-Sheikh. We are living very difficult circumstances in many countries. We continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, and energy prices have gone up for many commodities. At the same time, many countries are already feeling the effects of the climate crisis.

Minister Khattabi: “The situation is complex, and the negotiations are extremely difficult. But I have noticed a desire amongst all negotiators to move forward constructively. It is necessary to apply what was decided at Glasgow. Each COP, including COP27, should be used to implement what has been agreed on, elevate our ambition and further shaping of international co-operation."

As part of those discussions and the full three-day COP agenda, Minister Khattabi also met with Congolese authorities, in particular Environment Minister Eve Bazaida Masudi. The talks were useful in order to better understand the authorities' concerns and ambitions regarding the management of the Congo Basin and the role of this tropical forest in the fight against global warming.