Lubumbashi, the economic capital of Upper Katanga, lives at the rate of mines. Copper and cobalt fuel spectacular growth. But behind this prosperity, a worrying setback: pollution, disease and destruction of ecosystems.
The rivers are saturated with acid effluents and heavy metals. Forests disappear under anarchic urbanization. The air, loaded with industrial fumes, chokes the inhabitants. Result: biodiversity at risk, sterile soils, increasing respiratory diseases (Ilunga and ally: 2023). The crisis is not only ecological. She's social. Neighborhoods close to mining sites pay a high price: contaminated water, dermatological conditions, food insecurity. Inequalities are widening, public health collapses (Radio Okapi: 2025) « Acid leak at CDM in Lubumbashi: flooding and pollution risks are causing public concern).
Katanga is at a crossroads. Continue to extract without limits, at the risk of irreversible disaster. Or choose the path of sustainable development, demanding political will, citizen mobilization and international cooperation. Because without drinking water, without fertile soils, without breathable air, mining wealth is just a mirage.
This new issue of the Journal Frontières, rich in social analysis and reflection, highlights these complex and brutal realities. If the SGNC-SOLAFUNA Agreement raises a certain interest and fosters hope for change, it remains, at this stage, insufficient to contain the extent of the observed ravages.
We invite you to welcome these pages as a lucid contribution to the public debate and wish you a careful and enlightening reading.
