Projects

Climate Projects reduce/maintain the level of Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere — Mitigation value. At the same time, they alleviate hardships caused by the adverse effects of climate change on disadvantaged populations — Adaptation value.

Grassroots NGOs who have an intimate relationship with communities are best suited for implementing them. For the past 17 years, FCN has been building the capacity of these NGOs to identify apt and implementable technologies, register with the UNFCCC/Gold Standard, and set up systems for implementation, maintenance and monitoring. Digital solutions effectively monitor activities spread over tens of thousands of locations at each NGO area of operation.

Climate Projects, like any activity that aims to make a serious impact in the lives of resource poor populations, need to be implemented at scale. Obtaining humungous resources is the biggest challenge.

• The volatile Compliance Market trades at a pitiable fraction of the actual cost of generating emission reductions, since carbon revenues are seen as just a subsidy of sorts to close the gap to make conventional technologies viable
• The voluntary market offers a slightly better price, but is still far short of the actual cost of generation where pro-poor technologies are concerned.
• Disadvantaged populations do not have the money to themselves invest on the technology, maintain, monitor and generate Carbon Credits.

The only way that pro-poor Climate Projects can be financed is through the forward purchase/sale of yet-to-be-generated Carbon Credits at the actual-price-of-generation.

FCN facilitates Carbon Investors to partner with rural women and create an urgently needed and viable alternative to a fossil fuel based economy/lifestyle. We provide confidence and surety when they forward purchase environmental services, long before scheduled delivery dates. Carbon Investors feel secure that frugal investments will be made with a guarantee of efficiency and effectiveness. Their coming forward is also propelled by an enlightened realisation that if Homo sapiens are to survive on planet Earth, the so-called alternative of today has to become mainstream by tomorrow.

Returns from micro-level Emission Reduction activities carried out by hundreds of thousands of rural women will not be on par with returns from conventional non-renewables like windmills, hydro, et al. But the added value is the involvement of huge numbers into the building of an alternate economy. History has proven that large scale cooperation is the only way forward for our species.

Corporates exhibit a far-sightedness in recognising the value of powerful stories behind the generation of high quality, non-fudged, third-party verified Emission Reductions. They know that their customers will see the brink to which human beings have gone vis-à-vis Climate Change long before the economy as a whole acknowledges the fact.

They are willing to pay a higher price for these Carbon Offsets for Win-Win reasons and develop a "benevolent" carbon market till the economy fully recognises both, the value of environmental services as well as the destructive potential of extractive industries.