Contribution project

Repaired wells provide clean drinking water

Uganda, Several districts

ClimatePartner ID: 1092

Project details

Clean drinking waterGet to know the project

Many people still lack access to clean drinking water. To prevent diseases, the water must be boiled before using it. Since this is usually done over open wood fires, large amounts of CO₂ emissions are released and, in addition, indoor smoke burdens people's health.

The project is implemented in several districts in Uganda, among others in Kaliro and Lango, and counteracts both problems: With the involvement of local communities, damaged wells are located, repaired and maintained. This gives people access to clean water without having to boil it or travel long distances. But it is not only the living conditions of the people that are improved. The local forests are also relieved, as less firewood is consumed.

0 t CO₂Estimated annual emissions reductions

Project Standard

The project contributes to the the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals

How does technology for clean drinking water help fight global warming?

According to UNICEF, 2.2 billion people worldwide lack reliable access to safe and clean drinking water – 26% of the global population. Women and girls often must travel long distances to collect water from the nearest water point. To make the water safe for use, it is typically boiled over open fires using wood, which generates carbon emissions and harmful smoke. Additionally, the collection of firewood contributes to deforestation.

Climate projects for clean drinking water offer practical solutions. Water can be treated chemically (e.g., with chlorine-based purifiers), mechanically (e.g., with water filters), or through tapping groundwater from wells. For this, wells must be repaired, maintained, or newly installed, as only functioning wells provide clean drinking water. These solutions grant even remote villages access to safe water.

Such projects also reduce carbon emissions by eliminating the need to boil water and help combat deforestation. The clean drinking water projects in ClimatePartner's portfolio are registered with international standards.

The project aims to contribute to these United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Project facts

Type
Reduction

Climate projects generally fall into one of three groups: carbon reduction, carbon removal, or carbon avoidance. Carbon reduction projects reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by a specific activity (e.g., improved cookstoves). Carbon removal projects remove carbon from the atmosphere by sequestering it in carbon sinks (e.g., reforestation). Carbon avoidance projects avoid greenhouse gas emissions entering the atmosphere (e.g., protecting forests from deforestation with REDD+ projects).

Location
Uganda, Several districts

Standard
Gold Standard

All climate projects are based on international standards. They set processes and requirements which carbon projects must fulfill to be recognised as a proven method of reducing carbon emissions.

Technology
Clean drinking water

Climate projects demonstrably reduce, remove, or avoid greenhouse gas emissions. This is achieved with various technologies, ranging from nature-based solutions to social impact projects and renewable energies.

Registry ID
7362

Most standards on the voluntary carbon market list their projects in public registries. The registries are used to store project data and track issuances and retirements of verified emission reductions. The registry ID can be used to identify projects in the standard registry.

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Verified by
SustainCERT

Climate projects go through third-party validation and verification. Verification happens regularly after each monitoring period. A validation and verification body checks and assesses whether the values and project activities stated in the monitoring report are correct and verifies them. As with validation, visits to the project site are often part of the process.

Four criteria for projects to meet quality thresholds

01. AdditionalityA project must lead to lower carbon emissions than would have occured without the project. Additionality also means that a project relies on financing from the sale of emission reductions, as the project would otherwise not be feasible and the upfront investment would be too high for project developers.

02. Exclusion of double countingThe carbon reduction may only be counted once and may not be counted again elsewhere, so a Verified Emission Reduction is retired once it has been used. This process is recorded in official registries.

03. PermanenceThe criterion of permanence ensures that carbon reductions or removals are ongoing and do not occur just once. This guarantees a long-term benefit for the climate. The minimum duration of a project depends on the underlying project technology.

04. Audit by independent third-partiesClimate projects must be audited regularly by independent auditors such as TÜV Nord. These auditors verify that the project is in compliance with the relevant standards. They also determine the volume of carbon emissions that have actually been avoided or removed.

The life cycle of a climate project

A climate project has a set life cycle consisting of various phases, from the feasibility assessment to the retirement of Verified Emission Reductions (VERs).

Project planning phase

The project developer reviews the general feasibility of the project, the project design, and the financing. Then, the Project Design Document (PDD) is prepared, which contains all the basic information about the project, such as the objective, location, timeline, and duration.

Validation

In this phase, independent auditors examine the PDD and the information it contains. This phase often also involves field visits with on-side interviews and analyses. Auditors are accredited, impartial assessors who have to be approved by the relevant standard as a validation and verification body (VVB). TÜV Nord/Süd, S&A Carbon LLC., and SCS Global Services are examples of VVBs."

Registration

Once validated, the project can be registered with a standard such as the Verified Carbon Standard or the Gold Standard. All high-quality climate projects are based on international standards. They provide the framework for project design, construction, carbon accounting, and monitoring. Recognised standards make the climate project system and the projects themselves resilient, traceable, and credible.

Monitoring

After the climate project has been registered, the monitoring begins. Here, the project developers monitor and document the data of the project activities and progress. The duration of the monitoring phase varies from project to project: it can cover two years, but documentation over five or seven years is also possible.

Verification

At the end of each monitoring phase, a VVB checks and assesses whether the values and project activities stated in the monitoring report are correct. As with validation, visits to the project site are often part of the verification process.

Issuance of Verified Emission Reductions

Once verified, the emission reductions that were confirmed in the verification phase can be issued as VERs. The steps of monitoring, verification, and issuance of VERs are repeated regularly and are therefore considered as a cycle.

Retirement of Verified Emission Reductions

Once a VER has been used, it must be retired. This process is also reflected in the registry. If the financing of a climate project is done through ClimatePartner, the VERs are bundled in a system certified by TÜV Austria and then retired on a regular basis. This ensures that each VER can no longer be sold and is only used once, preventing double counting.

* The information on this page was last updated 15 April 2024.* For certified projects only: the project-related information on this page is based on the documents in the register.

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