Environmental group Greenpeace on Tuesday said the Democratic Republic of Congo has failed to respect a multi-million-dollar agreement signed with Britain last year to finance protecting its ecologically vital forests.

The DRC and Britain approved funds worth $500 million as part of the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) two months ago in Glasgow, which hosted the COP26 climate change conference.

Greenpeace said Congo's environment ministry failed to publish before the end of 2021 an audit by the country's spending watchdog of forest concessions, the agreement's first milestone.

It added that the report has still not been published despite a reminder on January 2.

The DRC's environment ministry said the Glasgow accord did not impose preconditions to unlock funds for forest protection.

It said financing forest protection only represented 20 percent of the funds, with the rest allocated to activities with no direct links to forest protection.

"If there are complaints to be made, Greenpeace should direct them to the British party," said spokesman Michel Koyakpa.

The DRC's vast, biodiverse rainforests, including the UNESCO-listed Virunga National Park, play a vital role in fighting climate change as a major absorber of carbon dioxide.

Greenpeace fears the lifting of a moratorium on granting new tree-felling permits will come into force in 2023 without the government adopting a new forest protection policy.

In October, President Felix Tshisekedi said several complaints of irregularities surrounding the granting of forest concessions had been made and ordered the suspension of all "doubtful" contracts.

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