Antalya:The president of the Republic of the Congo has called on global leaders to transform climate commitments into tangible actions, promoting a worldwide decade of tree planting at the COP31 climate conference.
According to Anadolu Agency – English, President Denis Sassou Nguesso addressed the Leaders' Summit at COP31, held in Antalya, Turkey, emphasizing the need for the conference to be a turning point from ambition to action. He urged all UN member states to embrace the United Nations Decade for Afforestation and Reforestation, spanning 2027-2036, as part of sustainable forest management efforts.
The UN General Assembly approved the Decade for Afforestation and Reforestation initiative on April 16, 2025, with an overwhelming majority vote of 155-1. Sassou Nguesso highlighted his nation's early adoption of the initiative, noting that the Republic of the Congo marked the decade's start by planting nearly 200,000 trees on its National Tree Day, November 6. The country has celebrated National Tree Day for over 40 years, reflecting its commitment to forest conservation as a step toward securing a shared future.
The Republic of the Congo, distinct from its larger neighbor the Democratic Republic of the Congo, shares the Cuvette Centrale peatlands in the Congo Basin, a significant carbon sink containing approximately 29 billion tons of carbon. As chair of the Climate Commission of the Congo Basin, Sassou Nguesso pointed to the Blue Fund for the Congo Basin as an embodiment of sustainable economic ambitions focused on forest, water, aquatic resources, and renewable energy.
Despite its reliance on oil, which constitutes about half of the nation's GDP and 90% of exports, the Republic of the Congo remains vulnerable to climate impacts, such as the severe floods in 2019 and 2020 that affected 100,000 to 160,000 people in the north. The president expressed gratitude to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish people for their hospitality during the conference, which continues in Antalya through November 20.