The added value of carbon offset projects: the protection of ecosystems and health

Our international carbon offset projects continue to operate, despite the global coronavirus pandemic. In addition to offsetting carbon emissions, they are also improving the provision of local health care and hygiene: an additional benefit which is now more important than ever.

The coronavirus pandemic is hitting emerging and developing countries particularly hard, as their health care systems have been completely overwhelmed by the crisis. In this respect, access to clean drinking water and the protection of ecosystems, which are at the heart of many of our carbon offset projects, play a key role in people's health.

Basis for hygiene: clean water

According to the UNESCO World Water Report of 2019, more than 2 billion people have no access to clean and consistently available drinking water. Furthermore, more than 4 billion people lack access to safe sanitation facilities. In the context of the current pandemic situation, these figures are all the more alarming. As they significantly improve the hygiene situation, clean drinking water projects are still allowed to operate in many countries, despite the curfew restrictions and business shutdowns.

In this regard, our project Safe drinking water in Uganda not only guarantees the distribution of water filters so that fewer carbon emissions are produced by wood fires for boiling water. It also enables a better level of hygiene for the local communities. Careful hand-washing with clean water is one of the key hygiene rules in the fight against the spreading of the coronavirus and other pathogens. At present, our project managers are working with NGOs and the Ministry of Health in Uganda to distribute filters in the most vulnerable areas in and around the capital, Kampala.

In our project Clean drinking water in Odisha, India, households are being given chemically-treated water. Despite the curfew restrictions in India, which are currently very strict, the deliveries are allowed to continue, as the authorities consider them to be of fundamental importance to public health care.

The pollution of the seas and inland waters by plastic waste also causes health and hygiene problems. In some regions, water polluted with plastic is being avoided and other water is being used instead, even though it isn’t suitable for washing or drinking either. The work of the Plastic-free oceans project is therefore all the more important. In cooperation with the Plastic Bank initiative, people in Haiti, Indonesia and the Philippines receive either money, food, drinking water or other goods to which they would otherwise not have access in return for the plastic waste that they collect. Since 2019, together with customers, ClimatePartner has supported the collection of almost 450 tonnes of plastic in this way, which is equivalent to approximately 17 million plastic bottles.

Intact ecosystems protect against viruses and germs

The WWF has also confirmed the importance of carbon offset projects for global health. In early April, the organisation published an analysis on the growing health risks due to the destruction of the environment: in contributing to the protection of ecosystems, carbon offset projects reduce the pressure on wild animals, which means they also reduce the risk of transmitting harmful germs or viruses from animals to humans.

This hasn’t just happened with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, but also with many viral diseases, such as SARS, Ebola and Malaria. The analysis by the WWF has also identified a direct link between the destruction of the rainforest and favourable breeding conditions for Malaria mosquitoes. Therefore, the protection of the rainforest, which is the goal of many of our carbon offset projects, is also important in preventing the further spreading of malaria.

In the Forest protection in Madre de Dios project, this is exactly what is happening: this region, in the rainforest of Peru, an area with one of the highest rates of biodiversity in the world, is threatened by road-building projects and inward human migration. Since 2009, our carbon offset project has been protecting a 100,000 hectare area from destruction and industrial use, and supporting local communities in managing their forests sustainably. The project also protects the habitat of indigenous people, some of whom live in isolation and have no protection whatsoever against such a viral infection.

Carbon offset projects not only offset carbon emissions. They have many additional benefits, and contribute directly to achieving the United Nations´sustainable development goals (UN SDGs). These are, primarily, goal 3 (good health and well-being), goal 6 (clean water and sanitation) and goal 15 (life on land). In the midst of the coronavirus crisis in particular, this combination of carbon offsetting and support for local people results in a valuable improvement to their living conditions and health.