This report covers the technical assessment of the voluntary submission of the Congo on its proposed forest reference emission level (FREL) in accordance with decision 13/CP.19 and in the context of results-based payments. The FREL proposed by the Congo covers the activities reducing emissions from deforestation and reducing emissions from forest degradation, which are among the activities included in paragraph 70 of decision 1/CP.16.

For its submission, the Congo developed a national FREL. The FREL presented in the original submission, based on the reference period 2017–2021, corresponds to 32,529,037 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year for 2017–2021. As a result of the facilitative process during the technical assessment, the FREL was modified to 31,656,549 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year for 2017–2021.

The assessment team notes that the data and information used by the Congo in constructing its FREL are mostly transparent, mostly complete and in overall accordance with the guidelines contained in the annex to decision 12/CP.17. This report contains information on the assessed FREL and a few areas identified by the assessment team for future technical improvement in accordance with the provisions on the scope of the technical assessment contained in the annex to decision 13/CP.19