Supporting the Uganda Gender Responsive Safe Water Project with high quality carbon credits purchase

Credit: Gold Standard & CO2balance

As part of my commitments to the SME Climate Hub, the UN Race to Zero Campaign, and 1% for the Planet, I purchased 10 high quality carbon credits from the Uganda Gender Responsive Safe Water Project. This project's credits are the first ever to be certified as "gender responsive" by Gold Standard, and they counterbalance my 2024 carbon footprint 6 times over.

Rehabilitating boreholes to provide clean water in rural Uganda

In Lango, Uganda, lack of funding and training for the maintenance of groundwater boreholes makes accessing safe water a challenge. Families resort to boiling water from streams as an alternative, but this presents a number of problems:

1. boiling doesn't guarantee potability, so they continue to struggle with waterborne diseases;

2. women and children spend hours each day collecting firewood and water, taking precious time away from education and work opportunities;

3. the collection of firewood places greater pressure on local forests; and

4. burning firewood produces carbon emissions.

In 2019, CO2balance introduced the Lango Safe Water Project, which rehabilitates local boreholes to provide clean drinking water. Since its introduction, the project has delivered the following climate and social impacts:

• 52,000 tonnes of CO2 emission reductions per year;

• 42,000 individuals enjoying clean water access, reducing the incidence of waterborne illness;

• each household gains almost 4 hours per week from reduced water collection needs, saving time for mostly women and young girls; and

• reduced school absenteeism due to less exposure to waterborne disease and less time spent collecting water.

  
  

The project positively contributes to four SDGs.*

In the process, this project positively contributes to the following UN sustainable development goals:

• 3. ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages;

• 5. achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls;

• 6. ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all; and

• 13. take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Confirmed gender equality impacts

This is the first project to receive Gold Standard’s gender-responsive certification. Some of the things a project must do to receive certification include:

1. conduct a gender analysis to understand the social, economic, and political factors underlying climate change-exacerbated gender inequality;

2. solicit and take into account stakeholder input; and

3. identify performance monitoring indicators and design a monitoring plan to track changes that the project can support, both in terms of gender equitable processes and gender responsive performance.

   
   

Credit: Gold Standard & CO2balance

The Lango Safe Water Project has reported the following verified gender equality impacts since its implementation:

• The local Water Resource Committees are approaching parity with 46% female to 54% male representation.

• Reported incidents of domestic violence related to water collection have dropped to zero, compared to 35% prior to the project start.

• 100% of the surveyed water users spend the time saved on domestic work, as well as income generating activities (99%) and social / leisure activities (94%).

Credit: Gold Standard & CO2balance

High quality carbon credits are real, verifiable, and contribute to sustainable development

We all need to reduce our carbon emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, which is the overarching goal of the Paris Agreement. But completely eliminating emissions isn’t possible for everyone and isn’t yet possible for me as a small business. That’s why I’ve opted for purchasing high quality carbon credits to counterbalance my emissions for the time being.

Gold Standard is a not-for-profit organisation headquartered in Geneva, focused on catalysing more ambitious climate action to achieve the sustainable development goals through robust standards and verified impacts.

Not all carbon credits are made equal. I chose to purchase Gold Standard-certified carbon credits because they’re:

1. real: the emissions reductions are measurable and permanent;

2. additional: the reductions would not have happened without the project activity;

3. independently verified: project activities and impact data are verified by third party auditors;

4. unique: they’re not double-counted or claimed by another party; and

5. traceable: all certified impacts are tracked transparently in a public registry.

The retirement of Gold Standard carbon credits ensures they're not double-counted or claimed by another party.

 Clausework’s commitments

As a member of the SME Climate Hub, my default commitment is to halve all emissions by 2030 and eliminate all of them by 2050. But, because I’m a small shop, I’m hoping to eliminate my Scope 2 (location-based) emissions by 2026. Eliminating my Scope 3 (value chain) emissions will take longer because of my small size and lack of relative influence.

As a requirement of SME Climate Hub membership, I’ve reported my 2024 carbon footprint online:

• Scope 1 : 0

• Scope 2: 0.247 tons

• Scope 3: 1.443 tons

The 10 carbon credits I purchased from the Lango Safe Water Project equal 10 tonnes of CO2 reduced or removed from the atmosphere—counterbalancing my 2024 carbon footprint almost 6 times over.

1% for the Planet works to prevent greenwashing, certify reputable giving and provide accountability for environmental giving.

By purchasing these carbon credits, I’ve also satisfied my annual commitment to 1% for the Planet to give 1% of my gross revenues (not profits!) to vetted environmental organizations (of which Gold Standard is one).**

I’ll be continuing to report on my progress through these environmental commitments on this Blog to promote transparency, and I look forward to more opportunities to improve in 2025!

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* The content of this publication has not been approved by the United Nations and does not reflect the views of the United Nations or its officials or Member States.

** Prorated to commencement of membership in November 2024, pursuant to 1% for the Planet terms and conditions.