Corporate Sponsorships
Grassroots NGOs register Climate Projects
Over 87 grassroots NGOs who work with the rural poor and develop Climate Mitigation Projects are members of the Fair Climate Network. Their aim is to solve practical gender problems faced by rural women due to uncertain weather patterns and, at the same time reward them for not emitting GHG. Rural women, in this manner, are not recipients of benevolent charity; they are business women performing a vital environmental service.
Women who use domestic Biogas units, for example, stop using non-renewable fossil fuels like firewood, kerosene, charcoal, etc. They cook in a cleaner environment, spend less time in the kitchen, do not have the hassle of collecting firewood, do not suffer from indoor air pollution and, at the same time, contribute to reducing GHG Emissions, which is the cause of global warming.
Financing these Climate Projects
The next challenge, after registration, is to find the capital to actually construct and maintain these Biogas units or install the fuel efficient Woodstoves. The solution is to sell their yet-to-be-generated Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) that will be generated through the use of these technologies, in advance, at the actual-cost-of-generation.
The marketing arrangement of the Fair Climate Network steps in. We make financial projections in a totally open and transparent manner, and approach Indian and foreign Corporates who wished to reduce their Carbon Emissions. The Fair Climate Network encourages Corporates to assess their emissions through a Carbon Audit, explore manners in which they can can make Real Reductions, and then offset the balance with high quality CERs and GS VERs generated by pro-poor Climate Projects undertaken by FCN Member NGOs.
Environmental Service provided by Rural Women
The fundamental principle upon which the FCN Marketing Mechanism is based is that hundreds of thousands of rural women provide a valuable environmental service that no one else can offer. Enlightened Corporates need credible Carbon Offsets to demonstrate their commitment to maintaining Climate integrity. The Fair Climate Network brings both parties together. FCN acts as an aggregator of not just Greenhouse Gas reductions, but also the powerful stories that go behind their generation. As service providers, these business women are not beneficiaries of anyone's charity.
Rural women are able to construct Biogas units or install fuel efficient Woodstoves since they already receive the cost of construction/installation, repair, maintenance and monitoring in advance. They become mini entrepreneurs who provide an Environmental Service to the planet at large. During the ERPA period of 7-8 years, CERs or VERs are delivered along with powerful stories of personal valour and empowerment that went behind the generation of these Carbon Offsets.
The FCN Tech Team has facilitated the design, development and registration of 22 climate projects with the UNFCCC and/or Gold Standard. They cover 5 technologies and are located in 18 districts of 7 states.
These projects have been designed for 2,57,555 families to mitigate their climate change hardships through 5 adaptation technologies — 1,10,485 Domestic Biogas units, 1,70,970 fuel efficient Woodstoves, 27,000 safe Drinking Water systems, 12,489 Solar Lamps, and 9,405 hectares of Farm Forestry.
Currently, 91,953 End User families are actively implementing these registered projects through 1,40,756 units — i.e. 36% of potential families are using 43% of the projected units.
The Fair Climate Network is negotiating with several other Indian companies who have shown a keen interest in “Corporate Climate Responsibility”.