Climate project portfolio "One Africa": impact for people and the climate

Africa, across the continent

ClimatePartner ID: 2035

Project details

In the field

Project impact

Project facts

Quality criteria

Improved cookstoves and clean drinking waterGet to know the project

For millions of people in Africa, long journeys to collect water or cooking over open fires are part of everyday life. Both take time, affect people’s health and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, many regions across the continent are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

The One Africa portfolio brings together five climate projects that address these challenges directly. By improving access to clean drinking water and more efficient cooking technologies, they contribute to climate action while improving living conditions for local communities.

The projects improve access to clean drinking water, reduce harmful indoor air pollution and enable improved cooking methods. Households in rural and lower-income regions benefit in particular. At the same time, natural resources are conserved and emissions are reduced.

The portfolio comprises the following climate projects:

The five projects complement one another in their impact. Three improved cookstove projects and two clean drinking water projects spread the investment across different countries, regions and project approaches. This diversification enables a broad contribution to climate action.

In addition to climate action, the projects contribute to several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These include reducing poverty, promoting health, gender equality and clean water, and creating economic opportunities for local communities.

All projects in the One Africa portfolio are registered under the Gold Standard and also undergo ClimatePartner’s due diligence process.

Project Standard

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

How improved cookstoves and clean drinking water contribute to climate action

According to UNICEF, 2.2 billion people worldwide do not have reliable access to safe drinking water. In addition, around 2.1 billion people cook over open fires or use other harmful cooking methods, according to the WHO. Both affect people’s health, put pressure on natural resources and cause greenhouse gas emissions. These effects are particularly evident in many African countries.

Improved cookstoves

Many households still cook over open fires or use basic stoves. These methods consume large amounts of fuel and often cause harmful indoor air pollution.

Improved cookstoves use fuel much more economically and reduce smoke and greenhouse gas emissions. Families need less firewood or charcoal, save time and money, and benefit from better air quality. Local forests also face less pressure because less fuel is required.

Clean drinking water

Access to clean drinking water cannot be taken for granted by millions of people in Africa. Water often has to be boiled before it can be consumed, requiring firewood and causing additional emissions.

The clean drinking water projects in the portfolio provide access to clean water by repairing and maintaining wells. This gives people a reliable water supply without having to boil water over open fires. It improves health, saves time in everyday life and reduces the consumption of firewood.

Together, the projects demonstrate how climate action and sustainable development can go hand in hand: emissions are reduced while living conditions for local communities improve.

The projects in the ClimatePartner portfolio are registered under 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.

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.

* For certified projects only: the project-related information on this page is based on the documents in the register.

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