Community Energy Solutions, India

India uses the greatest amount of fuel wood of any country in the world. This projects puts communities at the heart of the clean energy transition in India, reducing emissions from solid fuels, and preventing deforestation. 

The project takes a wholistic approach to address indoor air pollution with a package of solutions including efficient stoves, lights, and a water filter. The project works with microfinance institutions to provide clean energy microloans, scaling the impact of carbon funding. Carbon funding empowers micro-entrepreneurs, mostly women, to distribute the package of affordable clean energy solutions. 

Through the promotion and distribution of household fuel-saving devices, women in these communities have the unique opportunity to earn income. These micro-entrepreneurs are trusted climate action leaders, who come from the local communities they serve, and know the barriers to adoption to overcome, often having been microfinance recipients in the past.

In addition to delivering emissions reductions to help take urgent action to combat climate change (SDG 13), the project delivers a number of other sustainable development benefits. These include:

• No Poverty: Increases proportion of population living in households with access to basic services
• Good Health and Well-being: Decreases mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution
• Gender Equality: Decreases proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location
• Clean Water and Sanitation: Increases proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services
• Affordable and Clean Energy: Increases proportion of population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technology
• Decent Work and Economic Growth: Increases proportion of informal employment in non‑agriculture employment, by sex