Rabat, May 2 (TASR) - Countries that are home to rainforests and peatlands vital to limiting climate change want easier access to sovereign carbon credits, a financial system that rewards them for preserving their ecosystems, the environment minister said Republic of the Congo to Reuters. Slightly larger than Italy, the Republic of Congo shares with the much larger and much more populous Democratic Republic of the Congo the world's largest tropical peatlands and Africa's largest rainforest, absorbing the carbon dioxide that warms the planet. Sovereign credit markets, established by UN climate agreements, are designed to allow these countries to be financially rewarded for protecting ecosystems, including forests and peatlands. Arlette Soudan-Nonault, the minister of the Republic of Congo, said in an interview that access to a sovereign carbon market could help increase the country's GDP by up to 40% and finance the energy transition and create sustainable jobs. But she said multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank need to simplify lending procedures. (Ahmed Eljechtimi)