Science Panel for the Congo Basin
As the world’s second-largest tropical forest, the Congo Basin is providing key environmental services at local, regional and global scales but yet remains largely under-researched and chronically underinvested.
In response to the need to develop the capacity to generate and apply scientific knowledge to the critical mission of conserving the Congo Basin forests, the Science Panel for the Congo Basin (SPCB), hosted by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Networks (UNSDSN), was created and launched in 2023.
This independent scientific panel is led by three eminent researchers from the region as Co-Chairs, benefits from the guidance and advice of a Special Envoy and a 24-person Scientific Steering Committee, and is composed of over 150 scientists, mainly from the region.
An unprecedented scientific report of the Congo Basin
One of the first major achievements of the Science Panel for the Congo Basin is the production of a comprehensive scientific assessment report of the Congo Basin, entitled « Congo Basin resilience and sustainability : from the past to the future ».
The executive summary was launched at UNFCCC COP30 in Brazil in November 2025 and aroused enthusiasm. Indeed, the report represents an essential scientific reference on the ecosystems of the Congo Basin, current challenges and future opportunities to inform conservation and sustainable development work.
Discover the reaction of H.E.Ms Arlette SOUDAN NONAULT, Minister of the Environment, Sustainable Development and the Congo Basin of the Republic of Congo, in the video below.
Supported by CAFI
As a unique initiative that catalyses high-level political dialogue and increased funding to support ambitious reforms and on-the-ground investments to help partner countries reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation while alleviating poverty, the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) is funding this report.
To further build scientific capacity in the region and strengthen the science-policy interface, the Panel will also propose a fellowship program, also supported by CAFI, with institutional mentorship through the SPCB to train a new generation of policy-engaged professionals from both academic and applied social and nature science backgrounds.
A first milestone achieved and further remarkable advances to come. To be continued.
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Did you know ? The Congo Basin is a key regulator of the global carbon cycle, acting as one of the largest and most stable tropical carbon sinks on Earth. Its vast lowland rainforests absorb significant amounts of atmospheric CO2 through photosynthesis, sequestering approximately 0.66 tonnes of carbon per hectare each year into intact forests. In addition to its forests, the Basin’s peatlands, particularly in the Cuvette Centrale, store around 30 billion tonnes of carbon. These peatlands and forest soils lock away carbon accumulated over thousands of years, playing a crucial role in offsetting global carbon emissions. Its forests act as a continental-scale “green engine”, cooling land surfaces through evapotranspiration and driving atmospheric moisture recycling. Approximately 60–70% of the rainfall that falls within the Congo Basin is recycled regionally, maintaining a continuous f low of moisture inland from the Atlantic Ocean. This mosaic supports an extraordinary biological diversity, including over 10,000 plant species (30% endemic), more than 400 mammal species, 1,000 bird species, and 700 fish species. The biodiversity of the Congo Basin supports critical ecosystem services and is deeply intertwined with the cultural diversity of its human inhabitants, making it both a biological and biocultural reservoir of global importance. Locally it supports the livelihoods of about 80 million people while at least a further 300 million rural Africans benefit from the wider ecosystem services that depend on the Congo Basin ecosystems. To learn more, check out the executive summary of the report here. |