South Pole develops comprehensive strategies that turn climate action into long-term business opportunities for companies, governments and organizations around the world, and has been at the forefront of decarbonization since 2006. South Pole is also a leading project developer, and has provided nearly 1,000 projects in renewables, forestry, agriculture, industry, households and public institutions in over 50 countries. Through climate finance South Pole has saved over a gigaton of CO2 emissions, provided social benefits to less privileged communities who are particularly vulnerable to climate change and helped create nearly 100,000 jobs in developing countries.
Our greenhouse gas reduction strategy
Title:To date, and from the 2019 baseline, we have already reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 12% and Scope 3 emissions by 26%. We continue to invest substantially in our manufacturing, distribution, processes and policies to accelerate our greenhouse reductions and operate in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement.
A complete climate strategy presents all methodologies, including reduction, removal and offsetting.
In fact, in addition to our ambitious reduction plans and the climate projects with South Pole, we also recently signed a 5-year agreement with Climeworks, to actively remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere.
The truth is that every climate solution out there (when certified and additional) is valid. It is important to take all the measures and solutions available, and not just one. This is why, with South Pole, we chose 3 key projects to diversify our impacts into the areas of biodiversity protection, biogas capture and hydropower.
Huóshuĭ Small Hydropower
Title:Clean energy for China’s remote mountain communities
Subtitle:Similarly, the powerful rivers of China's mountainous areas can be harnessed to generate electricity for its remote communities and the wider region, but hydroelectric power plants require substantial investment to set up. Prior to the project, local communities experienced poor living conditions. At a time when 80 percent of Chinas energy demands were met by coal-fired power stations, these communities had unreliable access to electricity and there was little regional investment.
Huóshuĭ Small Hydropower consists of 95 small hydropower plants. The small-scale plants range in capacity from 0.1 to 14 MW, and together supply enough renewable energy to power over half a million average Chinese homes each year. Their run-of-river design allows them to do so with minimal environmental impact.
- Project standards: SocialCarbon, VCS Verified Carbon Standard
Impacts:
- 369,000 tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents) mitigated each year (SDG13)
- 740,000MWh of renewable energy generated annually (SDG7)
- Contributions to United Nations SDGs 4, 8 and 5.
Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve
Title:Preserving Borneo's tropical peat swamp forests and improving local lives
Subtitle:The Rimba Raya peat swamp forests are located in Central Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo in Indonesia. Before the project was established, these immensely biodiverse tropical peatlands were scheduled for conversion into four palm oil estates by the provincial government.
The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve protects 91,215 hectares of rich, tropical peat swamp forests which are monitored by local rangers as well as by satellite and aerial imagery. As well as preserving ecosystem diversity and the habitat of endangered species like the Bornean orangutan, the project reduces emissions by avoiding the planned deforestation of over 47,000 hectares of forests for palm oil production.
The Rimba Raya project not only sequesters carbon and protects habitat for local wildlife; it also promotes local sustainable development, particularly regarding environmental education and economic capacity building.
Project standards:
- Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB) Standards (Verra)
- VCS Verified Carbon Standard (Verra)
Impacts:
- 2,162 water filters distributed
- 47,237 hectares protected
- 3,500,000 tonnes of CO2e mitigated
Przetwarzanie odpadów na energię w Lan Dokmai
Title:Ograniczanie wpływu na klimat i wsparcie zrównoważonej produkcji biogazu
Subtitle:Tajlandia jest jednym z największych producentów skrobi z tapioki, której eksport stanowi ważną gałąź tamtejszej gospodarki. Niestety produkcja skrobi to proces, wskutek którego generowane są duże ilości dwutlenku węgla. Działanie to nie tylko niszczy środowisko naturalne, ale odpowiada również za emisję zawierających metan wyziewów o przykrym zapachu, których źródłem są ścieki, co z kolei negatywnie wpływa na jakość życia w okolicy.
Zamiast więc pozwalać, by metan swobodnie ulatniał się do atmosfery, w ramach realizowanego projektu wychwytuje się ten gaz, wytwarzając z niego czystą energię elektryczną. Wykorzystuje się ją następnie jako źródło zasilania dla produkcji prowadzonej w lokalnej fabryce skrobi; w efekcie powietrze jest czystsze, a zarazem zmniejsza się zapotrzebowanie na paliwa kopalne. Oznacza to, że można wygenerować środki, które wspierają działania o charakterze socjalnym i edukacyjnym na rzecz lokalnej społeczności.
Dzięki ograniczeniu emisji metanu nastąpiła spektakularna poprawa jakości powietrza w otoczeniu zakładu. Ponadto projekt zapewnia również nowe miejsca pracy i możliwości prowadzenia szkoleń z zakresu nowoczesnych technologii. Oczyszczone ścieki zawierają teraz o wiele mniej zanieczyszczeń, dlatego można je wykorzystywać do hodowli ryb i nawadniania pobliskich pól. Nawet osady ściekowe przekazuje się rolnikom i przetwarza na nawóz.
Podobnie jak znany nam wszystkim dwutlenek węgla (CO2), metan (CH4) również jest gazem cieplarnianym (GHG), którego obecność w atmosferze wpływa na temperaturę i system klimatyczny Ziemi. Istnieje wiele różnych źródeł emisji metanu — zarówno tych antropogenicznych (związanych z działalnością człowieka), jak i naturalnych. Metan jest drugim po dwutlenku węgla najobficiej występującym gazem cieplarnianym pochodzenia antropogenicznego, odpowiadając za około 20% całej emisji w skali globu i zatrzymując ciepło w atmosferze ponad 25 razy silniej niż dwutlenek węgla. Z tego względu redukcja emisji metanu ma znaczący wpływ na ograniczenie zjawiska globalnego ocieplenia.
Normy wykorzystane w projekcie:
• Gold Standard (WWF)
• CDM Clean Development Mechanism (UN FCCC)
Efekty:
- 20 000 ton ekwiwalentu dwutlenku węgla (CO2e);
- 2 100 m3 oczyszczonych ścieków;
- 2 200 litrów zaoszczędzonych paliw kopalnych.
Często zadawane pytania
Czym są kredyty węglowe i jak działają?
Projects must adhere to a rigorous set of criteria to pass verification by third-party agencies and a review by a panel of experts at a leading carbon offset standard like Verra or Gold Standard. After an organization or an individual buys a carbon credit, the credit is permanently retired so it can't be reused.
What makes a good climate action project?
How do I know that the emission reductions are actually happening? What does additionality mean?
For transparency, carbon credits are assigned serial numbers and are issued, transferred and permanently retired in publicly accessible emission registries.
Additionality means that the reductions in emissions achieved by the project must be “above business as usual". That means they would not have happened unless the project was implemented. By purchasing high-quality and verified carbon credits you are directly funding climate action and sustainable development.
What are the different types of climate action projects?
- The first avoids greenhouse gas emissions, for example replacing fossil fuel-derived energy with energy from renewable sources.
- The second removes emissions from the atmosphere, for example, planting more trees, which sequester - or capture - carbon from the atmosphere and store it in liquid or solid form.
- The third captures and destroys emissions, for example capturing methane–a GHG many times more potent than carbon dioxide–from wastewater.
Our global partner South Pole has hundreds of different climate action projects, which cover the following areas:
- Nature-based-solutions (reforestation, land restoration, forest protection, sustainable land management and agriculture)
- Renewable energy (hydropower projects, wind projects, solar power and geothermal)
- Community projects (improved cookstove technology, access to safe water)
- Waste-to-energy (biogas from landfill or industry, and biomass).
