Lumiere A6 Registry to Fill CORSIA's 150 Million Unit Gap

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Lumiere holds discussions with climate and aviation experts in Bangkok to supply the shortfall of CORSIA units readily available on the DRC sovereign registry

BANGKOK, BANGKOK, THAILAND, October 13, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Lumiere, the sovereign carbon registry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has confirmed that it holds CORSIA eligible emissions units available to the aviation sector, and is in discussions with airlines, climate finance institutions and aviation sector specialists to bring them to market.

The discussions are taking place around the 2026 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, held in Bangkok from 12 to 18 October 2026, where Lumiere is represented by Ivano Iannelli, Project Director at Lumiere SAS, the company that operates the registry.

The timing is deliberate. Airlines are expected to require in the region of 200 to 250 million emissions units by January 2028 to meet their obligations under the first compliance period of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation. Industry reporting in September 2026 indicated that approximately 72 million units were covered by CORSIA-compatible Letters of Authorisation issued by host countries as of August 2026, leaving a shortfall of roughly 150 million units to be closed in little over a year.
"The aviation industry has spent two years being told that supply is coming," said Iannelli. "At some point somebody has to actually turn up with units. That is what we are doing in Bangkok."

The Democratic Republic of the Congo holds one of the largest intact tropical forest estates on earth, and the Congo Basin is frequently described as the second lung of the planet. Lumiere was established to give that estate a sovereign, publicly visible system of record, so that assets originating in the country can be tracked, authorised and transacted under internationally recognised frameworks rather than through opaque private arrangements.

The registry is accessible at lumiere.gouv.cd.

Lumiere is not disclosing exact volumes, vintages or pricing at this stage but benchmarking a few lots of 3-5 million units each. The registry has indicated that it intends to engage with a limited number of counterparties in the first instance, and that discussions with interested aviation sector buyers will proceed on a direct basis on the running up to COP31. Further lots will be launched in a dedicated event at COP31.
"We are not going to auction the Congo Basin on a press release," said Iannelli. "What we are saying is that the units exist, the registry is live and public, and serious buyers should come and talk to Lumiere"
For airlines, the constraint over the past two years has rarely been willingness to buy. It has been finding units that satisfy both the scheme's eligibility requirements and their own internal scrutiny, from host countries with the institutional capacity to authorise them properly. Several carriers have publicly warned that the available pool has been too small and too concentrated in a handful of jurisdictions.
"Every airline treasury team I have met has the same problem, which is that the market is thin and the deadline is not moving," said Iannelli. "A sovereign registry in a country with this much forest is part of the answer to that. It would be strange if it were not."

Lumiere has said that it expects interest from carriers, fuel suppliers, brokers and compliance intermediaries, and that it will prioritise counterparties able to engage directly with the registry and its operating team.
Airlines, aviation groups, financial institutions and other parties interested in the units available through the registry are invited to visit lumiere.gouv.cd or to contact the registry directly to learn more.

ABOUT LUMIERE
Lumiere is the sovereign carbon registry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, operated by Lumiere SAS. The registry provides a public system of record for environmental assets associated with the country and is designed to support transparency, traceability and authorisation under international cooperative frameworks, including Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. It is accessible at lumiere.gouv.cd.

ABOUT IVANO IANNELLI
Ivano Iannelli is Project Director at Lumiere SAS. He has spent approximately two decades working in carbon markets, climate finance and sustainability advisory across Europe, the Gulf, Africa and South Asia, and is engaged in doctoral research on climate intelligence and carbon finance in developing economies. He writes and speaks regularly on the institutional foundations required for carbon markets to function in lower-capacity jurisdictions.

MEDIA CONTACT
Lumiere SAS
info@lumiere.gouv.cd
lumiere.gouv.cd

Ivano Iannelli
Lumiere
+971 505587503
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