Bringing fuel efficient stoves to families in Myanmar, reducing CO2 emissions and improving health and safety for homes.

Background

Myanmar is a Southeast Asian country that shares borders with India, Bangladesh, and Laos. It is the third largest contributor to deforestation worldwide. As the forests disappear, the price of wood gets higher, driving more and more families into energy poverty. Rural families in Myanmar spend as much as 40% of their income – or the time equivalent – on purchasing or collecting firewood.

This project brings fuel efficient stoves to families in Myanmar. 30,000 stoves have been sold to date, improving the lives of over 140,000 people. 

About the project

The Myanmar Stoves Campaign is the first Gold Standard certified carbon project in Myanmar. This project reduces carbon emissions by swapping families to more efficient stoves that release less CO2 when burning. For each stove, carbon emissions are reduced by 60% or 4 tonnes per year. 

Each cookstove reduces wood consumption by at least 50%, reducing both pressure on forests and household expenditure on fuel. 

Cutting expenditures on wood makes a huge difference to families already living in poverty. Additionally, reducing the time needed to forage for wood means families have more time to spend on smallholdings and on securing a good harvest. 

What’s more, this project reduces air pollution by 80%, improving the health and safety of the whole community. Air pollution from domestic cooking is responsible for the premature deaths of over 4 million people a year – this is more than HIV Aids and malaria combined. 

This project is managed by the Soneva Foundation. The Soneva Foundation supports the development of environmental projects that reduce carbon emissions and address deeper social and environmental challenges. Using innovative impact investing principles, projects produce their own financial returns which are used to further scale reach and impact.

This project is certified to the highest level by Gold Standard, as approved by the UN. Read more about Gold Standard’s certification process. 

Cost (USD / tonne of CO2e): $15 (read more about how this is calculated)

The impacts and benefits of this project: 

• Over 30,000 stoves sold to date across 1000 villages in Myanmar
• 140,000 people benefiting from lower energy costs and reduced indoor smoke
• 1,000+ vendors trained to sell stoves 
• Certified vendors average annual income contribution of US$300 from sales commissions
• Approximately US$20 million generated in social value from the campaign
• 2.5 tonnes of firewood saved per stove year
• Reduced air pollution in household kitchens improving health and safety for the whole community

Sustainable Development Goals

One of the requirements of Gold Standard certification is that the projects meet at least 3 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, of which one is climate action. This means that as well as fighting climate change by offsetting carbon emissions, the projects your money is supporting contribute to sustainable development for ecosystems and communities around the world. 

The goals met by this project are: 

3. Good health and well-being – Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being for all at all ages is essential to sustainable development 

5. Gender equality – Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world

7. Affordable and clean energy – Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity

13. Climate action

Read more about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. 

Your impact

You can see a record of our donation to this project on our public ledger. You can also view global contributions to this project on Gold Standard’s impact registry. 

Thanks to the contributions of our members, we are reducing carbon emissions for a more sustainable future.