Brazzaville, the Republic of the Congo

Brazzaville covers an area of 263.9 km2 and has a population of almost 2.3 million. The Congo River and its many tributaries nurture the city of Brazzaville, bringing resources and the problem of discharge, which has become an important challenge for urban development.

Enjoying controlled financial autonomy, Brazzaville derives its financial revenue from its own resources, generated by its departments and by the State for the benefit of the city, as well as from subsidies, donations and legacies.

Brazzaville has proposed a series of measures to combine environmental management with the provision of employment and the eradication of poverty, including projects like the household waste recovery project, "zero discharge into the Congo River" project, and the Urban Forestry Strategy, which reduce pollutant emissions, carbon emissions, while providing employment opportunities and harmonizing the interests of stakeholders to reduce poverty.

The city of Brazzaville produces more than 1.4 million metric tons of household waste a year, 32% of which (479,477 tons) is organic waste. Since 2016, waste has been collected, transported and landfilled by CES-AVERDA, and pre-collection of waste is carried out by more than 365 operators. As these activities did not include the organic waste recovery component, the Jardin d'Essai project was launched to recover the organic part of household waste and make it an urban ecology demonstration site, setting up a waste recovery unit for agricultural purposes and integrating workers in the sector (pre-collectors, reclaimers, sorters, market gardeners, academics etc.).

It also aims to achieve SDG 2.1: by 2030, eradicate hunger and ensure that everyone, especially the poor and vulnerable, including infants, has access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food throughout the year.

In Brazzaville, 5% of wastewater is dispersed in cesspools or leaking septic tanks, or dumped directly into the streets, posing a challenge for regulating the river's environment. To achieve the goal of "zero discharge into the Congo River", Brazzaville is drafting a "sustainable city" diagnosis report on sanitation and rainwater, which involved the construction of the necessary infrastructure, the creation of operating conditions for the treatment plants, including training for operators, and the introduction of sanitation billing for users; Other faecal sludge treatment sites are created to digest more waste and reduce discharge.

In 70 years, the city of Brazzaville has lost 85% of its forests, and the urban environment has been eroded. Brazzaville proposes an Urban Forestry Strategy to restore degraded areas.

According to the strategy, by 2030, the following changes are desired: at least 25% forest coverage in each of the nine boroughs; a program to plant the right trees in the right places at the right time; legislation on the preservation and restoration of urban forests; a multi-stakeholder platform to ensure that Brazzaville's forests are properly managed by all.

Brazzaville has obtained the support of a number of partners, including the Government of the Republic of the Congo, the World Bank, and UNESCO, to promote the above-mentioned projects. Brazzaville is actively involved in exchanging local experiences and collaborating. Domestically, cities of the Republic of the Congo are grouped together within the Association of Mayors of the Congo (AMC) to share their respective experiences. As for sub-regional cooperation, Brazzaville (the Republic of the Congo) and Kinshasa (the Democratic Republic of the Congo) have regular exchanges within the framework of the Special Cooperation Commission (COSPECO). The "zero discharge into the Congo River" project are developed simultaneously in the two cities.