Abundant Water partners with South Pole to finance clean drinking water projects in SEA
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2 December 2021, Sydney, Australia – Abundant Water, an Australian not-for-profit organisation bringing clean drinking water to communities in developing nations, has partnered with South Pole, an award-winning developer of carbon projects and climate solutions, to generate and sell carbon credits from its water filter projects.
“At Abundant Water, the necessity of looking after our earth has always been deeply rooted in our fundamental values. We believe that being conscious of our impact is vital to our water projects. We are thrilled to partner with South Pole to access carbon financing for our projects in Laos and Timor-Leste, providing clean drinking water to remote communities using our clay pottery filter technology,” said Michael Goodyer, Director Business Partnerships at Abundant Water.
Abundant Water’s clean water filter projects in Laos and Timor-Leste reduce the need for firewood to boil water, which in turn reduces pressure on local forests. This avoided deforestation stops the release of approximately 18,500 tCO2e (tonnes of carbon emissions equivalent) per year that is absorbed and stored by trees.
South Pole’s experienced team will support Abundant Water to register their projects under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), one of the world’s leading voluntary carbon standards. Once registered with VCS, the projects will generate carbon credits as a result of the emission reductions achieved.
Through the agreement between South Pole and Abundant Water, the sale of these carbon credits will provide a new, stable revenue stream for Abundant Water to deliver tangible benefits to local communities; the returns will be reinvested into activities that help maintain the project in Laos and Timor-Leste, and to scale up the provision of clean drinking water to more rural villagers in the area.
Companies taking voluntary climate action will be able to purchase these carbon credits to offset their carbon emissions, and to deliver cleaner air and water for the 130,000 people supported by Abundant Water’s projects.
“Carbon credits generated through our projects will provide a longer-term sustainable funding base alongside our traditional funding base through grants and donations. This is an innovative step in diversifying our sources of funding and provides an important stimulus to grow our programs,” said Michael.
Abundant Water’s projects support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 5 – Gender Equality, 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation, and 13 – Climate Action. The use of their water filters has also helped reduce the use of plastic water bottles in local communities.
South Pole is a world leader in developing and implementing comprehensive emission reduction projects and strategies that turn climate action into long-term business opportunities for companies, governments, and organisations around the world.
“We are delighted to be working with Abundant Water. Their projects provide meaningful benefits to the communities in Laos and Timor-Leste, and this impact can be amplified through the revenue from carbon credits,” said Russ Cullinane, Global Practice Lead for Agricultural Sourcing at South Pole.
“Projects like these have a crucial role to play in the fight against climate change by avoiding emissions today. Companies should be taking voluntary action to compensate for their emissions, and that can help finance essential projects like these. These funds have a real and lasting impact in vulnerable communities that are the most impacted by climate change.”
Lourdes Antenor is an experienced writer who specialises in the not-for-profit sector and its affiliations. She is the content producer for Third Sector News, an online knowledge-based platform for and about the Australian NFP sector.
