In an interview with Mongabay, the former Gabon environment minister Lee White makes the case that the Congo Basin should be treated as “critical national infrastructure” to be protected for Africa’s future water and climate security.He also defends nuclear energy as a “necessary evil” to generate the energy that Africa needs while avoiding catastrophic climate and water crises across the continent.White says weak governance, not mining itself, is the main driver of environmental destruction linked to mineral extraction.He criticizes the current carbon finance system, saying developed countries failed to honor their pledges to pay developing ones like Gabon for protecting their forests.
On May 11 and 12, 2026, the Africa Forward Summit took place in Nairobi, with several heads of state from across the continent and beyond attending. Thousands of political, economic and civil society actors also gathered in the Kenyan capital to discuss potential investments, particularly in the fields of energy transition and international financial assistance.
Lee White, Gabon’s former minister of water, forests, marine and environment, was at the summit to discuss carbon markets and Africa’s development. Originally from the United Kingdom, White is a naturalized Gabonese citizen. A scientist and zoology Ph.D., he took over the reins of Gabon’s National Parks Agency (ANPN) in 2009, and 10 years later was appointed environment minister under the controversial presidency of Ali Bongo Ondimba. Following the 2023 coup d’état that ousted Bongo from power, White left Gabon and his ministerial position, but did not leave Central Africa behind. During the COP30 U.N. climate summit in Belém, Brazil, he served as a special envoy for the Congo Basin.
