1. Share your idea. Tell us about the contribution you want to make.

I want to imagine trans-national collaboration between climate activism communities. Climate change is borderless, but the communities activated to address it are often limited by all kinds of borders — geographical, time zones, institutional, and language.

To approach this challenge, I am collaborating and building trust with an organization in the Democratic Republic of Congo called Droits Environnement et Citoyenneté (Environmental Rights and Citizenship). Led by Emmanuel Ndimwiza, DEC organizes plastic cleanups, environmental education classes in local schools, youth climate forums in the Lake Kivu region, and reforestation projects.

I would like to contribute to DEC by providing the funds to carry out a virtual student exchange between geologists in the University of Goma and the Yale School of Environment.

2. Why does this contribution matter to you?

The Democratic Republic of Congo is home to the beautiful Congo Basin, our planet’s second-largest tropical forest where preliminary data measures that it’s the largest carbon sink in the world[i]. It cradles some of the oldest, densest trees and plants that store 32 billion tons of carbon, 10,000 tropical plant species, and nearly 150 distinct ethnic groups who are all intimately linked to the wellbeing of this quiet climate regulator.

In 2022, the DRC government announced that it was auctioning off 27 million hectares of the basin to fossil fuel companies, driven by economic interests. These blocks include mining rights in the world’s largest peatlands that store around 30 billion tons of carbon ­— 7.5 billion tons shy of global emissions in 2022 — which get released into the atmosphere when disturbed.

International and Congolese environmental organizations, indigenous peoples of the rainforest, and local villagers have all rallied against the auction. Although President Tshisekedi’s government passed a new law to address discrimination and abuses against indigenous forest people, no efforts have been made to gain the Indigenous communities’ consent for the oil auction or to address their displacement.

In July of 2022, I co-initiated Redemption DAO with fellow climate advocates, and Remy Zahiga, a DRC climate activist, to crowdfund against the auction. By building up a social media campaign on Twitter, our efforts were recognized by the Financial Times and the DRC hydrocarbons minister Didier Budimbu. Although Redemption DAO itself was not able to muster the capital to participate in the auction, one of our partners, dClimate, recently signed an MoU with the DRC government to generate $1 billion of carbon credits to prevent deforestation. In 2023, friends from Redemption DAO Matthew Thornton and Remy Zahiga put me in contact with Mr. Emmanuel Ndimwiza, founder and organizer of the Droits Environnement et Citoyenneté (Environmental Rights and Citizenship) organization who is working on the ground with local youths to organize community clean ups, workshops, radio shows, articles, and social media posts to empower environmental education in North Kivu, South Kivu, and island territories of Idjwi, Kalehe, Bukavu and Goma.

On Lake Kivu, two companies have already won the market and are ready for exploitation of gas blocks.

Out of 32 blocks initially selected, calls for tenders for the allocation of rights will be launched on July 28 for 27 for 3 gas blocks by Israeli businessman Dan Gertler. The three gas blocks are located in Lake Kivu.

We are in urgent need to build trust networks with actors on-the-ground to reimagine the possibilities of collective grassroots climate justice organization. Researchers on ethical engagement with indigenous communities forward “community-based research” which emphasizes on forming “collaborative relationships with the community and encouraging the participation of community members in the process of creating knowledge.” Following this approach, I partnered with Emmanuel Ndimwiza, who is based in South Kivu and serves as the founder and organizer of the Droits Environnement et Citoyenneté (Environmental Rights and Citizenship) to co-imagine what 12 months of radical organizing in 2024 would look like

3. You have seven weeks for your Contribution Project. In detail, tell us what you plan to do during that time. (Consider sharing your thoughts about timeline, budget, and general goals.)

Capacity building for existing local actors – supporting ongoing work. This work includes fundraising and making possible:

1. Host 3-5 conferences bringing together youths from the cities of Goma, Bukavu and Idjwi in the island territory of Idjwi Province of South Kivu in the DRC. Planned activities:

   1. Exhibition of best photos and videos (short films) that talk about environmental degradation;
   2. Collection of plastic bags in the streets, avenues of the city and on Lake Kivu;
   3. Raise awareness among young people about the process of protecting and promoting the environment;
   4. Establish discussion forums in universities on the environmental issue
   5. Purchase professional cameras;
   6. Production of T-shirts;
   7. Design of popularization messages by professional actors;
   8. Broadcast of television and radio programs that talk about the environment;
   9. Maintenance of communication channels (site and other social networks).

2. Fundraising for in-the-soil work: planting trees across deforested regions of Ijdwi, Plastic Free Fridays Cleanups (campaign in collaboration with a University in Goma)

3. Organizing education workshops between Congolese environmental activists and members of the Yale Student Environmental Coalition

4. Purchase of a laptop $350 + purchase of webcam $60 + purchase of mega connection units) for the organization of the conference with Yale University $40 = 450$