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Future Carbon Fund delivering co-benefits for sustainable development

2pm, January 09th, 2018

This report from the Asian Development Bank highlights the economic, social, and environmental co-benefits of the Future Carbon Fund.

Asia and the Pacific is home to more than 60% of the world’s population and 62% of the global economic output. However the region still faces enormous development challenges and with accelerating economic growth, it has become a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. This has exposed Asia and the Pacific to the impacts of climate change, threatening to undo the development gains from economic prosperity over the past decades.

The Future Carbon Fund (FCF) has been supporting Clean Development Mechanism projects in the Asian Development Bank’s developing member countries since 2009. This report reflects how Clean Development Mechanism projects supported by the FCF are not only reducing 2.95 million tCO2e per annum but also delivering social, environmental, and economic co-benefits to more than 10.5 million people in the region. These include improved energy access and energy security, employment generation, diffusion of low carbon technologies, technological innovation, health benefits associated with reduction in air pollution, reduced dependence on imported fuels, reduced traffic congestion, and increased trade of technologies and services.

Key messages

  • Design projects that maximize development co-benefits: Climate change mitigation and development outcomes can go hand in hand if considered and planned from the early stages of the project.
  • Involve local communities in decision-making processes: Close collaboration with a range of local stakeholders from the early stages of developing projects is crucial as they all play pivotal roles in delivering co-benefits.
  • Engage with ‘corporate philosophy’: Regular engagement with local communities through well-considered corporate social responsibility programs helps to create shared value for business and society.
  • Incentivize strong development returns on investments in climate mitigation projects: Certified emission reduction buyers should assess co-benefits as part of their due diligence.
  • Include development co-benefits in Emission Reduction Purchase Agreements: Certified emission reduction buyers can structure transactions to provide results-based carbon finance linked to certain development activities and/or delivery of pre-defined co-benefits. This can motivate stronger inclusion of co-benefits in greenhouse gas emission mitigation projects.
  • Secure streams of carbon finance: Long-term fixed price contracts and upfront payments can help project entities during project implementation and contribute to sustained co-benefits.

Download the report here: Future Carbon Fund: Delivering co-benefits for sustainable development

Photo: Asian Development Bank/Flickr

Institutions Involved

  • Asian Development Bank

Authors

Asian Development Bank
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