27 Positive Impacts of High Quality Carbon Projects
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Climate-related policies and sustainability efforts are on the rise — and for a good reason. Since 1970, carbon dioxide emissions have increased about 90%, contributing to rapid climate change across the globe, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
To help reduce impact on the environment, many organizations are taking the necessary steps to reduce their carbon footprint and investing in high-quality carbon credits. These credits support carbon-reducing projects around the globe and help compensate for remaining emissions that cannot be reduced. Some have questioned the validity of carbon credits, but high quality carbon-reducing projects that are focused on pricing transparency, backed by science and rooted in integrity can create tangible benefits for both the environment and the communities in which they are based.
In honor of COP27 next month, where carbon credits are expected to be a major point of discussion, we’re sharing 27 examples of the positive impact of high quality carbon projects.
1. Additionality — Additionality is a key element of high-quality carbon projects. It means the emission reductions or removals from a mitigation activity would not have taken place in the absence of the added incentive/funding created by the sale of carbon credits.
2. Supports storing carbon (sequesters) — The process of removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it (such as in trees) is called carbon sequestration. One project, The Giving Trees, is a reforestation project with communities in India, Kenya and Uganda that has sequestered over 6 million tonnes of carbon emissions from the atmosphere through planting forests.
3. Plants new trees — Removing carbon from the atmosphere is crucial in addressing climate change, and there are many other projects around the globe that plant new trees to increase carbon sequestration.
4. Protects existing trees — One mature tree can absorb up to 22lbs per year during their first 20 years of growth! Protecting our existing trees shouldn’t be overlooked either.
5. A Warm Meal (kids & cookstoves) — Carbon projects can even deliver warm meals to families, a luxury that can often be overlooked. For example, a project in Malawi helps to feed kids and conserve resources by installing clean cookstoves that use less wood and emit less CO₂.
6. Protected Wildlife and Habitats — Some carbon projects protect habitats like Grass is Greener in Montana, which protects dozens of rare grasses and hundreds of types of flowers. Similarly, carbon projects can also protect local wildlife like Buffalo in Colorado.
7. Giving Farmers a Reason to Protect Land — Over 500,000 acres of grasslands were lost last year to farmland. As the most endangered ecosystem on the planet — according to the International Conservation of Nature — grasslands need protection. In fact, about 30% of greenhouse gas emissions are caused by land-use change and degradation. Unlike trees that store most of the carbon in their leaves and branches, grasslands store most of the carbon below ground in their roots. When grasslands are tilled, the root structure is ripped up and all the carbon stored in their roots is released. Cool Effect is working to protect grasslands in Colorado and Montana and is encouraging other landowners to follow suit.
8. Cleaner Air/Improved Air Quality — A major category of carbon reduction projects includes cookstoves projects. Installing clean cookstoves helps avoid the inefficient burning of charcoal or wood to provide more complete combustion and cleaner indoor air. This reduces fuel use, and saves both time collecting and money needed to purchase it. In Honduras, the Breath of Fresh Air project is building these cookstoves in rural homes to protect miles of local forests and eliminate toxic smoke from households.
9. Saves families money on fuel costs — Another benefit of cookstoves projects is that families save money by purchasing less wood.
10. Renewable Energy — Renewable energy projects build or maintain wind, solar or hydropower energy projects, contributing to the amount of renewable energy on the global energy grid. A Solar DC Programme located in off-grid rural regions of India generates electricity for 40,000 rural households in a planet-friendly way.
11. Improved access to clean water — Some projects can even increase local communities’ access to clean water, such as an initiative in China which replace open manure pits with a system that washes the waste directly into the chamber, — methane digesters that break down human and animal waste to create clean methane gas, which is used for cooking — and thus lowers the risk Increases access to clean water since the risk of waste contamination.
12. Protects water supplies — Other projects project areas of land that contribute to a region’s water supply, like an effort in Tennessee.
13. Creates jobs or provides employment opportunities — A commonality between many carbon reduction projects is that they actually create jobs in the communities in which they are based.
14. Professional training — Instead of simply providing one-off financial support to local communities, many quality carbon projects also provide additional training for local community members in relevant fields (for example, sustainable landscape management) which empowers them both professionally and financially.
15. Creates alternative, sustainable revenue sources — Alternatively, a project might incentivize someone in a region to switch to a more sustainable revenue source. For example, an initiative in Mexico encourages residents to preserve and grow the biomass in their standing forests despite multiple opportunities to cut trees for profit.
16. Sustainable practices education — When you’re trying to empower a community to take action for the planet, education is key. Where relevant, some quality carbon projects provide training to local community members, which then allows them to take a direct role in project sustainability and continued project management.
17. Enables communities to own where they live — With the help of professional training and increased education in relevant sustainability topics, Carbon Done Correctly means that these projects aren’t just based in the community, they become part of those communities, instilling a sense of ownership to all involved.
18. Provides financial support — In some cases, carbon reduction projects can provide financial support to local communities in the form of microfinance loans for small, local businesses.
19. Empowers women — Often, those microfinance loans are given to women empowering them to have a career and financial stability independently.
20. Improves research — Some projects, like Chestnut Mountain, offer a local research and education site for local universities and community members.
21. Provides access to natural areas for recreation — This land also includes public recreation and hiking trails.
22. Disease prevention & improved sanitation — Increased funds and infrastructure provided by these projects means that sanitation facilities, as well as disease education and treatment programs greatly improve in regions where quality carbon projects are based.
23. Improves fire hardiness of forests — Well-managed forests mean more livable habitat, increased wildlife, and improved resilience to wildfires. Less fuel to burn means less intense fires and more protection from extreme weather events
24. Restores biodiversity in impacted regions — More efficiently managed land is a boon to local wildlife where these types of carbon projects are based. Whether it’s planting more trees for additional habitat or simply maximizing protection of an existing forest area.
25. Protects local livelihoods — Whether it’s protecting existing crops and commodities or helping support businesses with additional financial support, quality carbon projects can be a tremendous boon to the local economies where they’re based, protecting — or even, in some cases, creating — job opportunities for the community.
26. Provides protection from extreme weather (Mangroves) — Some carbon projects can even provide protection from extreme weather. For example, a blue carbon effort in Myanmar plants mangrove trees along shorelines which provides a safeguard to local communities during tropical storms.
27. Reduces erosion and loss of farmland (Mangroves) — Through mangrove planting, the same project also reduces the risk of seashore erosion and loss of agricultural land due to increasing sea level rise.
These are just a variety of examples of the ways in which the support of high-quality carbon reduction projects creates tangible, verifiable climate impact and helps communities in need across the globe. When you support Carbon Done Correctly, you become part of the Cool Effect Community — WANT TO JOIN US? CLICK HERE.
