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How health and climate benefit from Microenergy Credits

India, Countrywide
ClimatePartner ID: 1380
Project details
In the field
Project impact
Project facts
Quality criteria
Social ImpactGet to know the project

Over 700 million people in India cook over open fire. However, the smoke produced by this method of cooking has serious health implications. Our carbon offset project aims to counteract this problem: by granting Microenergy Credits to households, families and, small businesses they can purchase energy-efficient products like cookstoves and solar lights at an affordable price.

Families buy the products locally at market price - a best practice from the microfinance sector, as giving products away for free would hit the local economy and lower the value of the products. Buying the products locally strengthens small businesses, with the project additionally supporting suppliers with training and start-up capital. And the climate benefits as well through verifiable emission reductions.

0 t CO₂Estimated annual emissions reductions
Project Standard
The project contributes to the the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals
"During my project visit to India, I was extremely impressed by the women micro-entrepreneurs. Despite adverse conditions, they master their everyday lives and implement their own business ideas. Our project supports them with microloans for improved cookstoves and solar lamps. I am proud of the close cooperation with the project developer MicroEnergy Credits. Together, we have been able to empower women to drive the energy transition in India and earn their own living."
Sascha LafeldChief Carbon Officer & Member of the Executive Committee
How does climate action with social impact projects work?

Social Impact projects include one or more technologies that create direct social added value in addition to climate action. Such projects involve the distribution of efficient cooking stoves, solar lights, or drinking water purification:

Efficient cooking stoves make better use of the energy supplied and reduce the smoke produced when cooking over an open fire. A similar problem exists when households do not have access to clean drinking water, as the water must be boiled over an open fire first before it can be used without hesitation. Remedies include the provision of drinking water treatment aids, such as filters, or access to groundwater from wells. In addition, solar lights help to illuminate the rooms and replace expensive kerosene lamps, which are a frequent cause of fire accidents. Social impact projects in the ClimatePartner portfolio are registered with international standards

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

Project facts

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).

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.

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.

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.
Check out this project

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.

Climate projects go through third-party validation and verification. Validation happens early in the project life cycle and ensures that the project design is in line with current processes and requirements. This phase often also involves field visits with on-site interviews and analyses. Auditors are accredited, impartial assessors who have to be approved as a validation and verification body (VVB) by the standards body.

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.

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