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Projects
The Context
In recent decades, Zimbabwe has suffered from political and economic turbulence. With limited economic opportunities, desperate communities have delved deeper into the forests, clearing it for subsistence farming and fuelwood. More than a third of Zimbabwe’s majestic forests have been lost. Creating further instability for people with already precarious livelihoods.
The Project
Spanning nearly 785,000 hectares on the southern shores of Lake Kariba near Zimbabwe’s Zambian border, the Kariba REDD+ Project connects four national parks and eight safari reserves. This giant biodiversity corridor protects an expansive forest and numerous vulnerable and endangered species – including the African elephant, lion and southern ground hornbill.
The Benefit
Beyond environmental protection, Kariba REDD+ supports a range of initiatives that promote community independence and wellbeing. Better clinic amenities improve healthcare, new roads and boreholes ameliorate daily life, and school subsidies are offered to the poorest quartile of the population. The project also promotes jobs, facilitating sustainable incomes that benefit the entire region.
The Context
China is the world’s most populous country and a major global economic power, yet coal and other polluting fossil fuels still dominate its energy mix. As the Chinese economy grows and diversifies further, tension between industry and environmental and social pressures are rising, with related challenges such as air pollution plaguing many of its densely populated cities. Renewable energy projects are a key means for China to power its booming economy sustainably, whilst reducing greenhouse gas emissions and associated social problems like air pollution.
The Project
Located in North China’s coastal province of Hebei, the Danjinghe Wind Project features 207 turbines of mixed installed capacities totaling 200 MW. Together, these turbines harness prevailing local winds to generate 438,000 MWh of clean energy annually. The electricity generated is supplied to the North China Power Grid through a Purchase Power Agreement (PPA) to power tens of thousands of local Chinese homes and businesses.
The Benefits
As well as reducing emissions and increasing the share of renewable energy in North China’s energy mix, this project is boosting local economies – in its construction and operation, the Danjinghe Wind Project has created 40 job opportunities. In supplying local Chinese homes and industry with affordable clean energy, the project is also reducing over 400,000 tones of carbon dioxide equivalent every year. What’s more, by displacing dirty energy from fossil fuel fired power stations, the project is contributing to improved air quality in China’s cities.
The Context
Coal-fired power stations are a major source of electricity in Vietnam, leading to high emissions and poor air quality in the areas surrounding these energy plants. To combat this and meet growing energy demands sustainably, the Vietnamese Government plans to increase access to clean electricity, such as hydropower.
The Project
On the banks of the A Vuong River in Central Vietnam’s Quang Nam province, the Za Hung Hydropower station has a total installed capacity of 30 MW. The plant features two turbines that harness the power of running water to rotate endlessly, generating enough renewable electricity each year to power almost 20,000 local homes.
The Benefits
Clean hydroelectricity displaces fossil fuel-generated energy to reduce emissions, but that’s not all – local communities also enjoy better grid connection, improved infrastructure, and cleaner air. In addition, the project supports regional sustainable development by creating jobs and funding the construction of roads and houses, while a grant fund donates to households affected by severe floods.
The Context
Afognak, the second-largest island on the Kodiak Archipelago off Alaska’s southern coast, is home to wildlife such as the huge Kodiak brown bear and many fish, including rainbow trout, Arctic char, and five species of Pacific salmon. However, evidence of a pervasive timber industry scars Afognak, marring its otherwise pristine wilderness landscape.
The Project
The Afognak Forest Carbon project comprises 8,219 acres of low elevation, coastal temperate rainforests. The project sequesters carbon by protecting these forests in perpetuity, which were previously managed for timber production and subject to clear-cut logging. 15% of productive land in the area, subjected to clear-cut logging since the 1980s, and was left to regenerate naturally, with little success. The remaining unlogged areas are covered by native, old-growth 200-year-old Sitka Spruce forests, lakes, wetlands and small streams.
The Benefits
The Afognak Forest Carbon project enhances biodiversity, water, and all attributes of the local environment by protecting the existing forest as an intact, fully-functioning ecosystem. Project management has low impact, focussing on salvage, restoration and preventative management on small areas annually. Moreover, while the project has a 30-year crediting period, its ancient forests will be protected forever.
Partnering with a leading emissions reduction project developer
South Pole is a leading provider of global sustainability financing solutions and services with over 250 experts in 18 global offices. For more than a decade, South Pole has worked with a wide range of public, private and civil sector organisations to accelerate the transition to a climate-smart society. The company’s expertise covers project funding, data and advisory on sustainability risks and opportunities as well as the development of environmental commodities such as carbon and renewable energy credits. South Pole has mobilised climate-finance to over 700 projects in emission reduction, renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable land-use.
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