Developing Demand For Carbon Credits
Carbon finance has a key role to play in the development of a global market for clean cookstoves and fuels. One clean cookstove can conservatively save one metric ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year under the right conditions, and many models can save two to four times that amount. These CO2 emission reductions can be certified and sold through global carbon markets, generating significant revenue for the stove businesses and providing options for keeping prices low for the consumer. To learn more about carbon finance and carbon markets please visit the Alliance’s Carbon Finance Platform, a comprehensive and interactive knowledge sharing platform.
In 2012, 4.1 million of the total 8.2 million cookstoves in the Alliance’s 2012 Results Report were disseminated with at least some support from carbon finance, up from 15% in 2011. A total of 70 survey respondents contracted 16.9 million tons of CO2 offsets, for immediate or future delivery to voluntary or compliance buyers, valued at USD 167.3 million. Although the sale of certified CO2 emission reductions provides a valuable revenue stream, clean cooking projects looking to access carbon finance face barriers due to:
• Costly and complex certification processes;
• Financing gap between registration and first revenues from carbon credits; and
• Uncertainty of carbon markets
The Alliance has undertaken a number of initiatives to address these barriers and increase access to carbon finance to scale adoption of clean cooking solutions.
The Clean Cooking Loan Fund
To help finance certification costs and overcome the financing gap between registration and first revenues from carbon credits, the Alliance recently launched the Clean Cooking Loan Fund (CCLF) in partnership with Nexus Carbon for Development and the Gold Standard Foundation. The CCLF is a not-for-profit fund that provides loans to clean cookstove and fuels enterprises to help finance carbon certification costs. Partners interested in accessing a loan from the CCLF are invited to register before May 1 at 12:00 AM Singapore time. More information on the CCLF and the application process can be found on the Carbon Finance Platform.
Generating Demand for Carbon Credits
To help address the uncertainty of carbon markets, the Alliance has convened a carbon working group to target and drive demand for carbon offsets. Based on input from the working group the Alliance will engage with potential buyers through connections with key networks, such as Ceres and BSR, and attendance at key conferences, such as Ceres and Carbon Expo, the world’s leading global event for stakeholder in the carbon market, where the Alliance and its partners will have a significant presence with a stand in the exhibition area and a side event on Friday, May 30 at 9:15 AM.
The Alliance is also promoting clean cooking carbon projects and connecting interested buyers with suppliers through a catalog of projects with carbon credits for sale. Partners that would like to include their projects in the catalog need to submit their information by April 30.
For more information on the working group, Carbon Expo or the catalog, please contact Jen Tweddell jtweddell@cleancookstoves.org.