Press Release

WWF China, South Pole Carbon and Climate Friendly support Panda habitat

Published 10 years ago | About a 2 minute read

The program is an excellent example of a “Win-Win-Win” scenario. Carbon finance, which is provided by COOP Switzerland as part of their sustainability program, is enabling the preservation of the Giant Panda habitat, improving the living conditions of Chinese villagers and reducing air pollution. This project exemplifies the extraordinary social, environmental and economic benefits that leading organisations are now drawing from their carbon programs. This emission reduction project was developed by WWF China and South Pole Carbon. It currently involves 2,800 households in Sichuan Province, Southern China, in villages close to the Mamize Nature reserve that encompasses Giant Panda habitat. The key driver for the achievement of social and environmental benefits has been the replacement of inefficient wood cooking stoves with improved and smoke free versions for local villagers. The traditional stoves require 20 to 30 tons of firewood per household to be collected from local forests each year, posing a risk to the nature reserve and Pandas, whilst the new ones require only 10. Most people spent 2 to 3 months to cut firewood, whereas it only takes about one month now. The most significant improvement has been on the air quality of the local communities. According to WHO, indoor air pollution from cooking fires kills around 2 million people every year, many of whom are children. “This project harnesses the expertise of WWF, Mamize Nature Reserve, South Pole Carbon and the local community to ensure that the carbon finance provided by COOP is delivering genuine, positive impacts for local communities and the environment. Since the establishment of our office in Beijing in 2007, this project represents the best example of our commitment to work with local communities and international NGOs to achieve the best of both worlds: emission reductions and improved living conditions. For us, it doesn’t get much more exciting than that.” Renat Heuberger, CEO, South Pole Carbon Group Your organisation can support similar inspiring projects like this one that will ensure you gain business value by helping you retain and acquire new clients and inspiring your staff and other stakeholders. It goes without saying that your organisation will also have a great positive impact on the environment and local communities. Watch the video about the project here: www.youtube.com/user/ClimateFriendly