Who would have thought that a Power Shift is possible in a context as troubled and tense as the Central African Republic? Yet Philippe Junior Sibiro, environmental activist and 350.org organizer is determined to do so. With his colleagues gathered in the New Space for Development Partnership in Central Africa and in collaboration with other local partners, they are thinking of strengthening the capacity of civil society actors interested in the climate issues to run a massive advocacy campaign centered on large-scale promotion of renewable energies.

What surprises the most with Philippe is his imperturbable calm and fierce determination. Since his return from Istanbul, he showed a strong sense of leadership in the development of Power Shift proposal at both national and regional level. Always present on coaching and exchange Skype sessions, spontaneous to react on emails, ready to support his peers from the region, Philippe has proven qualities of a talented and determined activist. And these efforts have resulted into a project that will include a training workshop for young leaders, an awareness caravan and public delivery of a memorandum on renewable energy.

Phillipe (in red shirt) and the GPS Central Africa team

All these ambitious activities are planned in a country that has been experiencing a serious socio-political instability for several months now and continuous inter-religious violence that is reaching “unprecedented levels of brutality” according to observers on the ground. Faced with this tragedy, Philip refuses to get discouraged or to fall into any kind of pessimism: “With the appointment of a new president, we hope that things will get stable. But in the meantime, we keep the focus on our project”.