The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) possesses diverse and outstanding natural resources which are important for the Congolese populations’ livelihoods as well as being of strategic regional and global significance. Decades of state decay and successive conflicts have exposed the country’s exceptional natural wealth to the chaos of informal and uncontrolled exploitation, with serious and long-lasting consequences. In the prevailing anarchy, illegal natural resource extraction patterns have developed which now fuel many of the DRC’s conflicts and human tragedies. The good news is that the DRC’s natural capital is in an overall satisfactory condition, and most of the environmental degradation is still reversible. Significant threats to biodiversity, increasing deforestation and localised mining pollution in southern Katanga, however, do signal alarming trends that are of serious concern. As the DRC’s economic recovery continues with the gradual return of peace, the development needs of its growing population of nearly 70 million, coupled with new technologies, are rapidly transforming unregulated artisanal exploitation into semi industrial ‘resource mining’. Furthermore, the DRC’s vast mineral reserves are again the object of intense foreign competition, placing great pressures on the country’s forests, biodiversity and water resources. An underlying challenge is that these developments are occurring in a context of pervasive weak governance. International assistance, including a doubling of aid, is urgently needed to support the equitable and sustainable use of the DRC’s natural resources. The country’s active engagement in market-based instruments for ecosystem services, particularly the carbon market and ecotourism, are promising sources of large-scale financing. To combat poverty and promote inclusive growth, this assessment by the United Nations Environment Programme asserts that building on the momentum of an emerging Congolese social economy as an engine for employment-led green development is central to successful post-conflict recovery and the pursuit of sustainable peace.