The Democratic Republic of Congo has announced plans to present Lumiere, its new national carbon registry, at the 8th Global Environment Facility Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in June. Full platform launch is expected later in 2026, subject to supporting legislation completing its passage through the national legislature.
The registry was developed by the Ministry of Environment alongside the Ministry of Digital Economy, Singapore-based M&M Greentech, and technology partner TRST01. The local technology partner is Lumiere Credit Carbon Platform SAS, a joint venture between DRC-based CDC (Forrest Group) and M&M Greentech/TRST01.
The first area to be integrated onto the platform will be a protected corridor spanning approximately 15% of the DRC’s national territory—an area comparable in size to France—within the Congo Basin. The DRC’s forests cover around 155 million hectares and are estimated to contain approximately 30 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent, making the basin one of the world’s most significant carbon stores.
Credits issued through Lumiere are intended to comply with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and the UN’s CORSIA aviation decarbonisation scheme. The DRC has already issued its first formal Letter of Authorisation to clean cooking developer Burn for Article 6 and CORSIA use, and Austrian developer Econetix has received authorisations for two cookstove projects in the country.
The platform integrates digital monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) from the outset, providing full traceability for each registered asset. On launch, the registry is expected to open for the registration of active projects, bringing the DRC’s existing carbon activities into a single, unified national accounting framework.
The June event in Samarkand will set out Lumiere’s operational scope and deployment timeline. The registry is designed to consolidate the DRC’s carbon assets and provide participants with a common, transparent basis for project registration and credit issuance.