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A government-funded report has found that carbon finance can and is
playing a significant role for improving energy access for the world's
poorest. |
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Surveying over 50 of the past international winners, the report chose ten case studies that had shown “clear evidence of scale”, to see what lessons could be learnt from their success.
The impact of just these ten are impressive: together they are helping over 9 million people to better lives through clean, affordable energy, and cutting carbon emissions by almost 2 million tonnes per year.
Significantly, given the strong debate around carbon offsets, was the finding that:
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“Well-designed carbon finance is an opportunity to improve energy access. Seven programmes were already using carbon finance or negotiating deals. Many intend to use this new revenue stream as an opportunity to reach poorer customers. Carbon finance requires careful design to be more accessible to SMEs and allow them to target the poor.” |
Two of these top-ten case studies receiving funding from ClimateCare: foot powered irrigation pumps in India (IDEI) and efficient stoves in Cambodia (GERES).
IDEI is ranked top of the ten for numbers of people directly benefitting (3.7 million) and GERES second (1.4 million). For carbon savings IDEI is second (290,000 tonnes CO2) and GERES is fifth (165,000 tonnes CO2).
Read the report here: http://www.ashdenawards.org/reports/low_carbon_energy
Michael Buick
