Did you know that everything as a carbon footprint?
The most commonly know is the carbon footprint of transportation such as : riding a car, traveling by bus/plane/train or the energy consumption which can be converted in carbon emissions! But, even something as usual as sending an e-mail (0.14 grams of CO2), or typing a google search (0.2g) and receiving a spam e-mail without opening it (0.3 g) etc, as a measurable environmental impact and a carbon footprint…
EXO Travel believes that it has the responsibility to offset unavoidable carbon emissions caused by Air Travel. Since 2015, EXO Travel has started to offset its own employees flights (accounting for 332 tons of carbon since inception), through a signed partnership with Nexus For Development. Thus, EXO supports several projects such as Clean water filters in Cambodia and Improved Cookstoves in Laos etc. In 2018, EXO has taken a major leap and decided to automatically offset all traveler’s regional flights!
How does it works?
Nexus is a GoldStandard certified organization authorized to retire credits from the voluntary carbon market. In the frame of a signed partnership with NEXUS for Development, EXO purchases an estimated total of 8,000 carbon credits, equivalent to a donation of $150,000 that will go directly into providing improved cookstoves to local people in Laos.
What are the projects supported?
In Laos, most people cook with wood and charcoal. The result: carbon emissions, air pollution, and a significant loss of forest cover that has amounted to a significant environmental threat over the last two decades. Through the Laos Improved Cookstove Programme, local producers receive training and are now making stoves that are more efficient.
The recipients of these cookstoves not only end up saving on fuel costs, but the more efficient stoves also require less fuel which results in cleaner breathing air, and a surprising list of direct and indirect benefits that include the following:
- +14,243 cookstove units purchased
- – $1.2 million USD on biomass fuels expenditure
- +77,748 people supported
- – 488 Acute Lower Respiratory Infection cases equivalent to savings of $14,111 USD
- +8,350 tonnes of wood fuels saved
- Avoided 221 Hectares of forest degradation equivalent to $28,755 USD
- Saved 172,734 hours in collecting fuel
This project is led by SNV, Netherlands Development Organisation with the support of OXFAM and the Lao non-profit association ARMI. The project aims to sell 420,000 improved stoves over an eight-year period with the support of carbon credits.
The Laos Improved Cookstoves project contributes to the following top-3 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
- Good Health & Well-being (3)
- Affordable & Clean Energy (7)
- Climate Action (13)
This is just one-way EXO, with the lead of EXO Foundation, extends our commitment to responsible tourism by addressing climate change and helping communities in our travel destinations have improved living standards and quality of life.
#References: Book – “How Bad Are Bananas?” by Mike Berners-Lee; Fifth Assessment Report of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
https://www.adventuretravelnews.com/carbon-offset-for-better-cookstoves-in-laos
