Climate Care
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Climate Care Trust Ltd is a UK-based carbon offset company founded by eco-entrepreneur Mike Mason in 1997. The idea came following a Masters in Environmental Change and Management at Oxford University Environmental Change Institute, where he explored the potential of carbon funding for protecting endangered habitats.
Climate Care has its head office in Oxford, England and has satellite offices in Nairobi, Kenya; Ankara, Turkey; and Santiago, Chile. On 24 August 2007, Climate Care announced that it had successfully delivered its first million tonnes of greenhouse gas emission reductions.[1]
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[edit] History
Founded in 1997 before the Kyoto Protocol, Climate Care is one of the world's largest organisations in originating, development and retail of voluntary carbon emission reductions.
In October 2006, Pioneer Carbon was formed as a sister company to Climate Care, with its head office based in Nairobi. Pioneer Carbon manages the origination and development of projects and carries out all the necessar work for compliance with the emerging standards.[2]
On 26th March, 2008, JPMorgan (a US investment bank) announced the acquisition of Climate Care.
[edit] Carbon offsetting
Climate Care funds projects all over the world, particularly in developing countries, which produce verified reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and have associated social or environmental benefits for the local communities. They gain this funding by selling the greenhouse gas emission reductions to businesses and individuals. Often, but not always, these emission reductions are purchased by individuals and organisations in order to compensate for their own emissions - a process known as carbon offsetting. Climate Care encourages offsetting as one part of a strategy for reducing emissions, to take responsibility for emissions that cannot yet be eliminated at source.[3]
There is some controversy about whether carbon offsetting encourages more emissions from individuals in developed countries by believing that it relieves them of guilt[4] or whether it encourages them to become further interested in reducing their carbon footprint.[5][6] Some have criticised the use of carbon offsetting by certain businesses as an example of ‘greenwash’.[7] In their report on the Voluntary Carbon Market, the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee concluded that research was needed on “what exactly encourages people to reduce their emissions” and the role that carbon offsetting could play in this. Regarding the evidence submitted to their enquiry they stated that “we found little substantial evidence to support the view that offsetting encourages ethical carelessness.”[8]
[edit] Greenhouse gas emission reduction projects
Climate Care funds over 50 projects around the world mainly in developing countries with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting sustainable development in these countries. Climate Care has delivered over one million tonnes worth of greenhouse gas emission reductions to date through projects in renewable energy, energy efficiency, methane capture and forestry.[9] Projects are found and put through a set of principles to determine whether they are suitable[10] and are then submitted to various independent standards to ensure accuracy, additionality and verification that emissions reductions are achieved. Standards for carbon offsetting include the Gold Standard[11], developed by charities such as WWF, and the Voluntary Carbon Standard developed by The Climate Group.
[edit] Examples of greenhouse gas emission reduction projects
[edit] Treadle pumps in North India
Climate Care funds the International Development Enterprise India (IDEI) in promoting foot powered ‘treadle’ water pumps in India. This project won the Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy for Enterprise in 2006.[12] The pump allows farmers with small landholdings to substantially increase the amount and variety of their crop production.[13] A research study by the International Water Management Institute found that for families who bought a pump, their income increased on average by Rs 4,100 per year from a pump costing about Rs 1200. A typical farm income in this region is typically about Rs 7,000 per year.[14]
Each treadle pump reduces greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 0.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. The emissions reductions are being accredited under the Voluntary Gold Standard[15]
The project has come in for criticism from The Times[16] including accusations of negative impacts on children. Climate Care responded[17] by citing an independent report assessing the impacts of the treadle pump on children, which concluded that "the welfare benefits of the pump extend in large part to the children"[18], whilst a UN Human Development Report of 2006 described the treadle pump as a ‘cheap and affordable technology….[which] when combined with market-oriented production, their potential for poverty alleviation is great’.[19] The project won the Ashden Award for Sustainable energy under Health and Welfare in 2006.[20] Despite the project winning the Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy along with UN approval and praise, the same treadle pumps Climate Care uses in this carbon offset project were "abolished in British prisons a century ago" and deemed an "unacceptable form of punishment for British criminals."[21]
[edit] Wind turbines in Karnataka, India
Climate Care provides funding to local companies Mahalaxmi Construction and RDS Construction in Karnataka, India. By providing this additional finance it makes it viable to construct small scale wind farms rather than generating electricity from oil and coal fired power stations. This has enabled the completion of two 0.8 MW wind turbines in Karnataka, which began exporting electricity to the grid in November 2005. Each turbine saves 0.65 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per MWh generated.[22] Climate Care has commissioned a report on the project from local energy experts MITCON Consultancy Services Ltd to monitor the projects progress. The amount of electricity sold to the national grid is monitored daily.
[edit] Efficient cooking stoves in Mexico
Wood is the major cooking fuel in the highlands of central Mexico. This has caused problems with smoky, unhealthy kitchens and the destruction of forests in the surrounding hills.[23]
Climate Care provides funding to GIRA (Grupo Interdisciplinario de Tecnología Rural Apropiada) who have designed a new improved stove made from local materials, the Patsari. This stove cuts wood use by up to 66 per cent[24] and significantly reduces the smoke and pollution produced by traditional stoves. By reducing indoor pollution this programme can greatly decrease health problems associated with the old stoves. The effectiveness of GIRA's work is monitored and recorded measuring the impact the Patsari stoves are having on health, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Initial estimates suggest installing one Patsari stove saves 3 tonnes of CO2 per year.[25] The project won the Ashden Award for Sustainable energy under Health and Welfare in 2006.[26]
[edit] Clients
Climate Care works with a number of different organisations.[27]
In 2007 Climate Care offset all three of the major UK political parties’ conferences Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats.[28] They also offset for HRH Prince Charles and the leading sustainable development charity Forum for the Future.
Climate Care also work with large corporations such as Land Rover, Aviva, Powergen, Guardian Newspapers LTD, Co-operative Bank, Interface Flor, First Choice and lastminute.com.
[edit] Controversy
Carbon offset schemes have received criticism from some for their lack of regulation and perceived effectiveness. They have been likened to papal "indulgences", granting wealthy people in the west to ignore their own responsibility. See carbon offset controversies.
[edit] Further reading
- Clean Air-Cool Earth, A Consumers Guide to Retail Carbon Offsets
[edit] References
- ^ Climate Care delivers 1 million tonnes! :: Climate Care
- ^ CC Report 06
- ^ CC Report 06
- ^ Monbiot, George, Heat; How to stop the planet burning
- ^ The Voluntary Carbon Offset Market, report by The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee
- ^ Sustainable Consumption Round Table, I Will if You Will
- ^ Friends of the Earth: Press Releases: : CARBON OFF-SETTING
- ^ The Voluntary Carbon Offset Market, report by The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, p.14
- ^ Climate Care delivers 1 million tonnes! :: Climate Care
- ^ project principles :: project types :: Climate Care
- ^ WWF - Gold Standard
- ^ Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy for Enterprise
- ^ Treadle Pump Report by the IDEI
- ^ Pedaling out of Poverty: Social Impact of a Manual Irrigation Technology in South Asia by Shah et al., 2000
- ^ project types :: Climate Care
- ^ "To cancel out the CO2 of a return flight to India, it will take one poor villager three years of pumping water by foot. So is carbon offsetting the best way to ease your conscience?" by Dominic Kennedy and Ashling O’Connor for The Times, August 28, 2007
- ^ Benefiting farmers and their families - truth about treadle pumps :: Climate Care
- ^ Microsoft Word - 20070626 TP & Children Report.doc
- ^ HDR 2006 - Human Development Report Office
- ^ Case Study | GIRA, Mexico, | The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy
- ^ Is carbon-offsetting just eco-enslavement? | spiked
- ^ project types :: Climate Care
- ^ Proyecto Difusión de Estufas - gira-web
- ^ Evaluación de eficiencia de estufas - gira-web
- ^ project types :: Climate Care
- ^ Case Study | GIRA, Mexico, | The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy
- ^ we work with :: we work with :: Climate Care
- ^ Parties attempt to reduce hot air generated by their conferences - Times Online
