SLOW LIFE in Myanmar, the first Gold Standard carbon credit project registered in Myanmar, was endorsed by the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry in Myanmar 21 January 2014.
In a meeting called by the Myanmar Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (MOECF), minister U Win Tun expressed excitement of the project, which is providing low income families with access to energy-efficient and clean burning cook stoves.
First Stoves
The project is developed by the SLOW LIFE Foundation in a joint initiative with partners Orbis Development Partners and Mercy Corps.
Earlier in the month the first shipment of 969 stoves arrived. 17 local vendors from eight villages have been trained and already they have sold over 800 stoves, from which they earn commission.
The target is to distribute 12,000 stoves per year, though the project is structured so that it can be expanded if additional funding and interest is there.
50% reduction
The ‘SLOW LIFE in Myanmar’ project will allow families to replace traditional three-stone fires and rudimentary stoves with modern, clean burning and highly efficient cook stoves. The efficient cook stoves reduce the amount of firewood consumed by at least 50% when compared with traditional cooking methods.
Households make considerable savings in money and time by using these cook stoves – a great incentive for daily use. Cook stoves are being sold at affordable, highly subsidized prices through a network of local vendors who receive training in sales activities, record keeping and monitoring.
The programme is being registered with the award winning certification standard for carbon mitigating projects Gold Standard Foundation and has been officially listed on the Gold Standard registry.
First Carbon Credit project in Myanmar
‘SLOW LIFE in Myanmar’ is the first ever Gold Standard carbon credit project registered in Myanmar, which will provide low income families with access to energy-efficient and clean burning cook stoves.
“This programme marks a milestone not only for the Gold Standard Foundation but for the global carbon market more generally. For the first time ever carbon finance will reach Myanmar providing much needed support in its current development and to its people,” says Adrian Rimmer, CEO of The Gold Standard Foundation.
4 million killed
Worldwide, about 2.7 billion people burn biomass to meet their most basic energy needs including cooking or boiling water. The inefficient burning of solid fuels on an open fire or traditional stove in poorly ventilated homes creates a dangerous cocktail of noxious pollutants.
For several hours a day women and small children breathe in amounts of smoke equivalent to consuming two packs of cigarettes per day. As a result, household air pollution kills 4 million people annually according to the global burden of disease study.
Demand for firewood has led to severe deforestation in the country. As local forests disappear, wood is increasingly being imported from across the country, making it expensive to purchase and leaving families trapped in energy poverty.
SLOW LIFE Foundation
Sonu Shivdasani, who with his wife Eva, are the benefactors of the SLOW LIFE Foundation, is delighted that the SLOW LIFE Foundation is able to support the Myanmar Stoves Campaign through ‘SLOW LIFE in Myanmar.’
“This project will directly address climate change and environmental challenges in the country while having deep and meaningful impacts on the lives of the families in Myanmar. Energy poverty is a scourge of the poor and this project will intervene to break this socially corrosive cycle in rural Myanmar by reducing the income that families need to spend for their basic energy needs by over 50%, releasing valuable disposable income which can be spent on improved nutrition, child education and family health,” says Sonu.
He adds: “The reduction in carbon emissions and the avoided deforestation which will be a direct result of this project are also core goals of the SLOW LIFE Foundation and that these goals can be achieved while having such positive social impacts made supporting this project one of the easiest decisions I have ever had to make.”
By: Arnfinn Oines