Global carbon offset standard approves three clean cookstove methods

By Susanna Twidale

LONDON (Reuters) - A global standard setter for voluntary carbon projects has approved three new methods for projects that reduce emissions by switching to cleaner fuels used in domestic cookstoves, hoping to boost buyer confidence in the credits they generate.

Carbon trading, through which companies can buy credits from projects that avoid emissions such as cleaner cooking fuels or deforestation prevention schemes, is seen as one way for richer countries to meet their emissions reduction targets at the same time as helping poorer countries move to greener energy and to improve their resilience against climate change.

The global voluntary carbon market was worth around $723 million in 2023, according to Ecosystems Marketplace data.

Proponents of cookstove projects say that as well as curbing emissions from burning kerosene or coal to cook food, they bring health benefits to households by reducing exposure to air pollution.

But critics have warned that the programmes have overstated their emission reduction benefits and overestimated their use.

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), an independent governance body, has sought to address concerns by launching Core Carbon Principle (CCP) standards and is assessing the validity of carbon offset projects.

It said the clean cookstove methods approved require a more rigorous approach to determine the baseline fuel being replaced and for monitoring usage.

This, it said, will cut the risk of over-crediting.

"This will provide the confidence needed to ensure that carbon finance can flow into these projects, enabling them to deliver their social, environmental and health benefits to communities around the world," said Amy Merrill, CEO of the ICVCM.

ICVCM said there is a large project pipeline it expects will update their methods to meet the new criteria, with the potential for hundreds of thousands of credits to be issued in the coming year.

The ICVCM also approved one household bio-digester - a sealed container designed to break down household waste such as food scraps into a usable cooking fuel.

(Reporting by Susanna Twidale, Editing by Louise Heavens)