During the Stop Ecocide panel, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) strongly emphasized that water is not only a natural resource, but life itself. In this country at the heart of the Congo Basin, rivers, forests, and soils shape the daily lives of millions of people and regulate the climate far beyond national borders.
When we talk about fresh water in the Democratic Republic of Congo, we are not just talking about a natural resource: we are talking about life itself. Water shapes the rhythms of daily life, cultures and the survival of millions of Congolese people. Even though the DRC has no access to the sea, our identity is deeply linked to water and to our immense tropical forest and one of the most powerful river systems in the world: the Congo Basin.
In the DRC, fresh water is everywhere in the rivers that feed our communities, in the forest that regulates our climate, in the soils that support our agriculture. Our forest even emits what scientists call ‘atmospheric rivers’: streams of moisture that travel across the continent. That is why, as a fellow citizen said at the Ocean Summit, there is no forest without the ocean, and no ocean without the forest. These two worlds are part of the same living system.
But today, these waters our rivers, our wetlands, the streams hidden deep in the forest are under serious threat.
Mining pollution is poisoning our rivers. Deforestation is accelerating erosion. Illegal exploitation is destroying ecosystems that took centuries to form. And in the east of the country, armed conflict is turning water and forest into the silent victims: rivers contaminated by toxic products, displaced families deprived of drinking water, communities plunged into extreme vulnerability.
Stopping these threats requires courage and shared responsibility.
★ First, we must strengthen local protection: empower communities living near protected areas, recognize indigenous knowledge and support environmental defenders who risk their lives to protect the water that sustains us.
★ Second, we need honest political will: regulate extractive industries, end illegal exploitation and restore degraded ecosystems.
★ Finally, we need international solidarity. The forests and waters of the Congo Basin are not just Congolese treasures: they are essential regulators of the global climate, reservoirs of biodiversity and lungs for the whole of Africa, and a symbol of national unity. Protecting them is not an act of charity it is a requirement of climate justice.
And yes, I definitely believe that recognizing ecocide as an international crime would be a major turning point.
The DRC is one of the leading states, alongside Vanuatu, in the international movement calling for the inclusion of ecocide in the Rome Statute. Our country was the first in Africa to join this courageous call, because we know that the deliberate destruction of our rivers and forests is not simply collateral damage: it is a crime against life itself.
This would draw a clear line: the deliberate and massive destruction of ecosystems such as the Congo River, protected areas, community forest-would no longer be considered simple collateral damage, but a crime against humanity, requiring legal action against those responsible for its destruction.
A law against ecocide would give communities a tool to hold the most powerful actors accountable (such as extractive companies and guerrilla leader in the context of armed conflict). It would eliminate irresponsible practices. And it would affirm, at the highest level of international law, that protecting water, forests and the rights of future.
Bye Sylvie NABINTU
