Erick J. Kassongo, LLM (Kinshasa) is a legal research fellow with the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL) focusing on the issues of climate change governance, adaptation and mitigation, sustainable landscapes investments, and sustainable development. Mr. Kassongo is also Director of Centre Congolais pour le Développement Durable (CODED) and national coordinator of Initiative Climat REDD (ICR) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as a member of African Union expert working group on Human Rights, environmental and extractive industries. As a lawyer and climate activist from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Erick has fought environmental cases on behalf of indigenous communities and describes his legal battles to stop deforestation.