There is renewed incentive for mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to invigorate their decarbonisation efforts, as the country paves the way for taxing carbon emissions and regulating its carbon trading market.
It is therefore no surprise that discussions at the DRC Mining Week in June 2025 in Lubumbashi are likely to have a renewed focus on practical strategies for mines to steadily reduce their emissions over coming years. With the passing of Ordinance Law No. 23/007 in March 2023, the process is underway through which government will promote environmental conservation and meet its global carbon commitments.
According to Philippa Burmeister, Partner and Principal Scientist in Air Quality and Climate Change at SRK Consulting, it is only a matter of time before DRC mines' carbon emissions will have direct financial implications. As a result, many companies are looking more closely at how they monitor their emissions, a crucial first step in managing and reducing these emissions.
To Manage, First Monitor
"The starting point in this process is to determine what the company's most significant sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are, so that the biggest sources can be targeted first," states Burmeister. "There are numerous technologies available, but not all technologies will be appropriate in all situations. Therefore, experience and practicality need to be applied in selecting technologies before implementation."
An important consideration for mines in the DRC is to assess not only the potential impact of each particular technology but to evaluate the readiness of the support ecosystem for that technology to be applied, maintained, repaired and upgraded.
While progress is being made with the development of low-emission equipment and vehicles, these might not yet be viable options locally if the mines production is unduly affected by long lead times for servicing and a repair, for instance.
"There needs to be a reliable supply chain to ensure the ready availability of technicians, mechanics, parts and technical infrastructure to allow these innovations to achieve the necessary high levels of uptime in production," she adds.
