Central Africa is poised to redefine its narrative at COP30 (Belém, November 18-19, 2025), shifting its status from a region requesting climate aid to a provider of strategic, measurable, and bankable value.
The region faces a critical climate finance gap, rooted in its structural inability to effectively monetize the immense ecological wealth of the Congo Basin—the world's second lung—due to a lack of systematic inventory and valuation tools.
The high-level side-event, organized by ECCAS, the Congo Basin Climate Commission, the ECA, and the African Union, is focused on launching a flagship initiative: the Natural Capital Consortium (NCC).
The NCC: A New African Standard for Value
The NCC’s core mandate is to establish African Standards for the audit, accounting, and certification of natural capital. This strategic initiative will transform the region's environmental assets into a strategic asset class, thereby unlocking true economic sovereignty and resilience against global shocks.
A crucial outcome of the COP30 event is the forging of a "financial compact" with major regional financial institutions (AfDB, BDEAC, BEAC, COSUMAF). This compact aims to integrate the new NCC standards into their balance sheets and investment strategies, ensuring the sustainable capitalization of nature-based solutions.