DRC Names Lumiere, Its Sovereign Carbon Registry, with Full Unveiling Set for the GEF Assembly
HE DRC Minister of Environment on Lumiere and Art 6
Fireside Chat
Innovate 4 Climate Panel
Announced alongside Ecosperity Week, the Democratic Republic of Congo signals the next step in governing its forests and carbon as sovereign assets
SINGAPORE, May 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Democratic Republic of Congo has named Lumiere as its national carbon registry, the platform through which the Congolese state intends to govern and account for the carbon and environmental assets within its borders. The announcement, made from Singapore as the sustainability community convenes for Ecosperity Week, precedes a fuller presentation of the platform at the 8th Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan during 1 - 6 June.
Developed by the Ministry of Environment, Sustainable Development and the New Climate Economy in partnership with a local Congolese technology partner, Lumiere Credit Carbon Platform SAS, Lumiere has moved from design into implementation over the past year. Its public introduction in Samarkand will set out the platform’s scope, its first deployment area, and the pathway toward full operation later in 2026.
From Commitment to Construction
At COP30, the DRC committed to governing its carbon wealth through transparent, sovereign, technology-driven systems. In the months since, that commitment has moved into delivery. The platform’s architecture and design phase is complete, and the project has entered build, with a working version of the registry now being prepared for deployment.
The progression matters because it changes what the DRC is asking the world to consider. A commitment invites goodwill; a working system invites capital. By naming the platform now and setting a date for its fuller unveiling, the DRC is signalling that its carbon governance is becoming infrastructure rather than aspiration.
A Sovereign Treasury of Environmental Assets
At the centre of Lumiere is a straightforward proposition: that a nation’s forests, ecosystems and the carbon they hold are sovereign assets, and should be accounted for as such. Rather than treating carbon credits as isolated transactions negotiated project by project, the DRC intends to maintain a national treasury of verified environmental assets — registered, valued and monitored on infrastructure the state itself controls.
The first area to be brought onto the platform is a protected corridor covering approximately 15 percent of the national territory — an expanse comparable in size to France. Prioritising this corridor allows the DRC to demonstrate the registry at meaningful scale from the outset, and to anchor Lumiere in one of the most significant intact carbon sinks on the planet, the Congo Basin.
Built for Integrity and Investment
Lumiere is being built to meet the standards that serious buyers and regulators now expect. Credits issued through the platform are intended to align with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and with CORSIA, the international aviation sector’s offsetting scheme — the frameworks that govern the compliance-grade end of the carbon market. Digital monitoring, reporting and verification is designed into the system, so that the provenance and status of each asset can be traced and trusted.
The registry is also intended to bring the country’s existing carbon projects into a single transparent view. On launch, the platform is expected to open for the registration of active projects — an invitation to participants to operate within a common, verifiable national framework.
“Naming Lumiere is more than a milestone; it is a statement of intent. This is how the Congolese people take ownership of the value of their own natural heritage. We are not asking the world to take our climate ambition on trust. We are building the systems that make it verifiable — and at the GEF Assembly, we will show how,” said Her Excellency Prof. Dr. Marie Nyange Ndambo, Minister of Environment, Sustainable Development and the New Climate Economy.
“Capital follows credibility. Lumiere gives the Democratic Republic of Congo the infrastructure to present its natural wealth as a verifiable, investable proposition — and gives investors a sovereign system they can trust. That is what unlocks long-term participation in markets of this kind,” added Mr. Manoj Vembu, Managing Director of Lumiere SAS.
Choosing Singapore for the announcement places Lumiere within the region increasingly central to global climate finance. The platform will be presented in greater detail at the GEF Assembly in Samarkand on 1-6 June, ahead of its full operation later in 2026, once the DRC’s supporting legal framework completes its passage through the national legislature. The Ministry has framed these engagements as the first in a series through which the platform, and the projects it carries, will be brought to investors, developers and partners.
About the Ministry of Environment, Sustainable Development and the New Climate Economy (DRC)
The Ministry is responsible for environmental policy, forest conservation and climate action in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including the governance of the country’s carbon markets and the stewardship of its natural assets on behalf of the Congolese people.
About Lumiere Credit Carbon Platform SAS
A Joint Venture between, CDC (Forrest Group), DRC and M&M Greentech / TRST01, Singapore, Lumiere SAS serves as the perfect blend of DRC on ground knowledge, experience and trust alongside award winning tech platform (TRST01) that specializes in environmental technologies, digital sustainability platforms, Carbon finance solutions and Natural Asset Management combined with blockchain and AI at its center.
Media Contacts
Press Office — Ministry of Environment, DRC — info@environnement.gouv.cd
Media Relations — Lumiere SAS — media@mmgreentech.com
Media Relations — TRST01 — journey@trst01.com
Ivano Iannelli
TRST01 Climate Intelligence
ivanoi@trst01.com
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