Last month, Terra Team Members from across the country came together to celebrate and reflect on the last decade of work dedicated to facilitating market and results-based payment approaches for forest and agriculture climate change mitigation programs that deliver community benefits.
Eneco, the Dutch energy company committed to “sustainable energy for all”, organized its 5th EneCO2 Tour in May, a three day bike ride that ending at Carbon Expo. The 2016 ride included 34 riders from 14 countries who covered 400 kilometers over three days from Rotterdam to Cologne. In addition to Eneco’s leading sponsorship, Statkraft, Aera, ICIS/Tschach Soultions, South Pole, Pacific Forest Alliance, ClimatePartner, and Impact Carbon provided sponsorship for the ride.
In collaboration with the Korean Forest Service, Korean Green Promotion Agency, and the Myanmar Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC), Terra Global initiated a new REDD+ project in Myanmar, holding a three-day kickoff meeting in Nay Pyi Taw this June. The project will focus on the North Zamari Reserve Forest, which represents over 75,000 hectares of threatened tropical upland rainforest in the Bago Yoma region of Myanmar. The kickoff meeting was designed both to initiate the project as well as provide an opportunity for training of technical aspects of REDD+ program design and GHG quantification as well as knowledge sharing for all the project stakeholders.
The first agricultural offset program has been listed by Terra in partnership with Water River Irrigation District for early action credit under AB 32, California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The program produces emission reductions from rice management practices adopted by growers in the Mid-south. The program includes 140 fields covering more than 7,000 acres of rice production in Arkansas and Mississippi. It will be the first program in agriculture to transition from American Carbon Registry’s (ACR) voluntary protocol to the California Air Resources Board (ARB) the compliance protocol adopted in June 2015.
Complementing the overall Program objectives, targeted funding was secured through the sale of emission reductions, to establish the Kulera Beyond the Grid revolving fund. This fund is designed to bring electrification to the rural communities in the Program area. Beyond the Grid aims to give access to electrification in areas of the country where electrification is one of the lowest in all of Africa. The introduction of the solar energy solutions, including single lights and multi-light home solutions, extends student study hours or time for working on small businesses. Some systems can support village level small enterprise, such as cell phone charging stations. It is estimated that on average, each household will save about $5 USD (16% of their monthly income) per month from reduced purchases of non-renewable fuels such as kerosene, candles and disposable batteries for flashlights.
