Road to Clean Energy Runs through DR Congo

Renewable energy sources are key to addressing the climate crisis. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has 70 percent of the world's cobalt - used for batteries that enable clean electricity. Investment in infrastructure - and attention to curbing child labour - are urgently needed to exploit this resource for a great, global good. The planetary future depends on it, says women and children's advocate Jeanine Mabunda Lioko, the first woman elected to preside over the DRC Parliament. DRC also has potential hydroelectric power to contribute 'green' energy to grids of central and southern African countries.  Mabunda argues that DRC's cobalt reserves, alone, are reason enough to pursue international collaboration with DRC on Earth Day, 22 April - said to be the world's most observed secular event.