The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) supported the World Bank in the preparation and implementation of multiple investment projects throughout the Congo River Basin. The World Bank projects across the basin region share common objectives aimed at enhancing urban resilience to climate-related hazards, such as floods and erosion, while improving access to basic urban infrastructure and services. Key components in these projects focus on climate-resilient urban infrastructure development, capacity building, and contingency emergency response.  

The objective of GCA’s support to the World Bank was to increase resilience to floods and erosion in five countries: Gabon, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of the Congo (ROC), and Burundi.  All five countries face extreme urban climate vulnerabilities driven by widespread poverty, fragile political landscapes, and limited adaptive capacity. Rapid, unplanned urbanization combined with increasingly frequent extreme weather—such as devastating floods and droughts—disproportionately impacts the urban poor and marginalized groups, often resulting in massive economic losses and displacement. A history of conflict and systemic fragility have also hindered long-term adaptation efforts and trapping the region in a cycle of environmental and economic instability. 

The Compendium of Nature-Based Soil, Water and Land Management Investments and Summary Report for the Republic of the Congo summarize findings related to investment projects in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire. These documents describe actions that can be taken to introduce and augment Nature-based Solutions (NBS) in both places, and describe the enabling conditions and financing requirements necessary to implement interventions and replicate these measures at a larger scale.