Unlocking Carbon Finance for Advanced Cook Stoves in India

The initiative is implemented by Abt Associates through the USAID-funded Market-based Partnerships for Health (MBPH) project. The project focuses on strategic partnerships and fostering of commercial alliances to address a wide range of health issues, including reproductive health, maternal and child survival, tuberculosis, water, hygiene, HIV/AIDS, and delivers health impacts that are commercially viable and scalable. India has one of the highest incidences of IAP, accounting for over 440,000 deaths a year. Open cook stoves without chimneys are a major source of IAP, with over 75 percent of households in National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) high focus states using open chimneys either inside or outside their house. The worst impacted by IAP are women, who remain the primary caregivers in most households. High levels of IAP result in a high incidence of childhood acute lower respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, peri-natal mortality, low birth weights, and cataracts. The MBPH ACS Initiative works in partnership with stakeholders such as the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to develop market-based solutions to increase access to and adoption of ACS. The initiative aims to reduce the cost of ACS devices and increase their affordability for disadvantaged populations. Carbon finance is identified as a potential alternative to subsidies for increasing the affordability of ACS devices, provided that non-price barriers such as stove technology, behavior change, and supply chain issues are also addressed. A workshop on "Unlocking Carbon Finance for Advanced Cook Stoves in India" was held on August 10, 2011, in New Delhi, India, to discuss the potential of carbon finance for ACS in India. Over 60 participants attended the workshop, representing the Government of India, donor agencies, carbon consultants, ACS manufacturers, social enterprises, and public health and environmental organizations. The workshop identified key trends, challenges, and opportunities with respect to developing carbon financing for ACS in India and the most effective ways in which the Government of India and donors such as USAID can accelerate its development. Experts deliberated on various approaches to reduce the complexity and cost of accessing carbon finance with respect to various processes. It was suggested that incorporating default factors and using existing studies, for example, for forest surveys, would improve cost efficiencies and simplify processes. Guidelines which could potentially reduce the entry barrier for small-scale enterprises projects needing carbon finance were also discussed at the workshop. One of the key recommendations was for the Government of India to register a national-level Program of Activities (PoA) for ACS before the end of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012. The registration of a PoA India will enable small ACS projects to access carbon finance after 2012. The European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) directive under which post-December 2012, the EU will only purchase credits from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in non-Least Developing Countries (LDC) that have been registered till 2012 is of critical importance for the future of carbon revenues in India. CDM remains the main market, and the EU ETS is by far the largest buyer of CDM credits. The workshop provided a forum for the identification of key trends, challenges, and opportunities with respect to developing carbon financing for ACS in India, as well as the most effective ways in which the Government of India and donors such as USAID can accelerate its development. The ACS Initiative aims to develop market-based solutions to increase access to and adoption of ACS as a means of reducing women's and children's exposure to IAP. The initiative works in partnership with stakeholders such as the MNRE, NABARD, and IIT to develop market-based solutions to increase access to and adoption of ACS. The initiative aims to reduce the cost of ACS devices and increase their affordability for disadvantaged populations. Carbon finance is identified as a potential alternative to subsidies for increasing the affordability of ACS devices, provided that non-price barriers such as stove technology, behavior change, and supply chain issues are also addressed. The workshop on "Unlocking Carbon Finance for Advanced Cook Stoves in India" provided a forum for the identification of key trends, challenges, and opportunities with respect to developing carbon financing for ACS in India, as well as the most effective ways in which the Government of India and donors such as USAID can accelerate its development. Experts deliberated on various approaches to reduce the complexity and cost of accessing carbon finance with respect to various processes. It was suggested that incorporating default factors and using existing studies, for example, for forest surveys, would improve cost efficiencies and simplify processes.