The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the most challenging markets in need of clean energy solutions, with large humanitarian challenges and widespread population needs. But the future of sustainable development in the country rests on its ability to scale clean energy solutions and manage its diverse environmental ecosystem. The DRC is home to the world’s second largest tropical forest massif after the Amazon with nearly 155.5 million hectares of forest. Forests (60 percent of the Congo Basin) are rich in animal and plant biodiversity (5th in the world) and provide important goods and services (non-wood forest products, timber, wood energy, bushmeat, traditional pharmacopoeia, etc.) on which the lives of thousands of rural people depend. However, a combination of population growth, poverty, poor governance and the administrative deficit is leading to deforestation and forest degradation in the country.