I am Francois Kamate. I’m still single and I’m 27years. I am the coordinator and founder of the environmental youth movement known as Extinction Rebellion Rutshuru, and I have been leading the organising of the Fossil Free Virunga campaign for more than three years. The Virunga National Park is a UNESCO protected park and forms part of the Congo Basin, the greatest net collector of CO2 in the world with its 220 million hectares of forests. 

In a setting of armed conflict, I coordinate citizen initiatives (peaceful marches, sit-ins, street awareness-raising, and conferences) to urge the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to halt the process of issuing ‘oil extraction and exploitation’ permits in vulnerable ecosystems, in particular by opposing the proposal to withdraw the protected status of Virunga National Park. 

For the past year I have worked hard to assist grassroots campaigns to bring attention to the issue of auctioning off 27 oil blocks and 3 gas blocks in protected areas. This would be a disastrous and exceedingly harmful choice for communities, biodiversity, and the global climate. I am also working on the campaign to cancel the debts of the Global South, whose repayment places a significant burden on the local economy and has a striking impact on community members’ lives.

Additionally, in order to educate young people who have experienced armed conflict about the effects of global warming, its origins, and consequences – but most importantly, the part they must play in preserving the environment – I organise awareness-raising activities in secondary schools and universities. I join other environmental activists around the globe to platformed our cause on the international stage. I have also co-written documents and successful applications for funding to support the continuation of our environmental actions in the Virunga Park.