Over the past few years, carbon finance has been discussed as a funding opportunity for safe water projects as a new form of subsidy that can contribute significantly to reducing the financial burden for the base of the pyramid. However, some stakeholders specify that safe water products should not be given away in the form of dumping them on people who do not want them. Attention should also be given to the setup of a sustainable distribution channel for the replacements and spare parts of the envisaged products. In addition, carbon financed programs have been criticised for not actually reducing carbon emissions - especially when referring to the controversial "suppressed demand" assumption.
Evidence Action, a non-profit organization based in the US, has installed more than 5,500 chlorine dispensers in Eastern Uganda between 2013 and 2016. Evidence Action works with South Pole Group, a carbon project developer and leading sustainability solutions provider headquartered in Switzerland, to generate carbon credits from their safe water program. In a new research article, Lars Osterwalder, Senior Consultant, South Pole Group, and Andy Narracott, Evidence Action, illustrate on the basis of a concrete case in Eastern Uganda, how carbon finance can be used as a results-based funding mechanism to provide safe drinking water to poor rural communities. The paper provides insights on how the carbon registration process works, what data needs to be collected and what financial return can be expected.
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