(Bloomberg) -- The Democratic Republic of Congo, home to the bulk of the world's second-biggest rain forest, said it will review all forestry contracts days after a scathing government audit showed widespread tax avoidance and the illegal issue of logging permits.
Environment Minister Eve Bazaiba ordered the setting up of a ministerial commission to review contracts and “produce a detailed report within a short period of time,” her ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
The publication of the audit by Congo, the world's biggest cobalt producer and Africa's top copper miner, is key to unlocking $500 million in funding from the Central African Forest Initiative over the next five years. The money has been allocated to help Congo support its climate-change commitments.
The Inspector General report dated May last year was released this month. Its publication was initially scheduled for the end of last year.
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Congo lies at the heart of the Congo Basin rain forest, which absorbs an equivalent of 4% of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions every year.
The country also committed to placing 30% of its area under protection status and restoring 8 million hectares (19.8 million acres) of degraded land and forests. Congo will also halt mining and hydrocarbon extraction in protected areas if it leads to deforestation.
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