Host nation DR Congo at Pre-COP27 talks on Tuesday urged rich countries in particular to increase funding to combat climate change during the final meeting ahead of the COP27 climate summit in Egypt next month.

Congolese Environment Minister Eve Bazaiba called on countries to respect past financial pledges and also to endorse proposals to compensate less developed economies for climate-inflicted damage.

In attendance the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed the need for more money, specifically mentioning a promise originally dating back to COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009, to provide developing countries with $100 billion.

Meanwhile, Congolese religious leaders, members of the Inter-religious Initiative for Tropical Forests (IRI), are convinced that the climate change observed in the world is due to the bad management of the forest and natural resources. This conviction motivated them to work, this Monday, October 3, during a workshop in Kinshasa, on a strategic plan of climate justice and security that they intend to propose to the Pre-COP27 which takes place from 3rd to 5 th October 2022 in DRC.

For Bishop Donatien Nshole, Secretary General of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO), Pre-COP 27 is an opportunity for religious leaders “to pass on the message of the need to protect our forests and to discipline the exploitation of land resources.