Claude is the founder and CEO of Ecolotrip, an organisation aiming to empower young people in Africa and globally in the fight against climate change. It does this by promoting networking, capacity-building, and green entrepreneurship. After experiencing firsthand the limitations of English language climate discourse for non-English speakers, Claude decided to create an organisation that would help young people from francophone Africa engage in discussions on their own terms. The project has raised awareness about climate change and its consequences in local communities, and developed its eco-citizens programme, through which young climate activists share best practices on community organising and climate action.
Claude attended the One Young World Summit in Munich, 2021. He has since become an active member of the One Young World Community in francophone Africa, regularly sharing his events and funding opportunities with like minded Ambassadors. Claude also attended the ChangeNow Summit in Paris as part of the Ambassador delegation sent by One Young World.
Ecolotrip’s most significant project is the Week-Eco, a summit organised for young climate activists and green entrepreneurs from francophone countries. The annual event has hosted 500 young people aged between 18 to 35 across four editions since 2017, as well as planted 100 trees during its last iteration. Through the Ecolotrip platform and other events beyond Week-Eco, the organisation has reached over 6,000 people and created 1,000 ecocitizens. Ecolotrip has also hosted clean-up events, removing 50 kgs of plastic waste, and sent a delegation to COP27. This delegation was composed of 15 young people to ensure that young voices were represented in the global climate conversation.
“Last year, One Young World shared the call for our Eco-Week event after I mentioned that I needed help sharing it. And we had some fellow Ambassadors apply to attend. It was a nice full circle moment for me, I got inspired by the people in the Community and how they lead their organisations.”
