MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: U’yo’olché, Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (FMCN) Look to Carbon Credits to Finance Improved Cook Stoves to Reduce Emissions, Improve Living Standards, Promote Women’s Rights in Rural Mexico

U’yo’olché, a Mexican environmental non-governmental organization (NGO), and Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, A.C. (FMCN), a nonprofit funder of environmental efforts, are leading an initiative to provide improved cook stoves to families in rural areas of southern Mexico with the aim of reducing wood consumption, eliminating hazardous household smoke, decreasing the risk of accidents, minimizing household expenses and promoting women’s empowerment.  U’yo’olché has developed the Túumben K’óoben, Mayan for “new stove,” which is made from local brick and cement. As of 2013, 2,000 of these fuel-efficient stoves have been distributed in the region. The stoves are packaged with solar powered cookers, which are used in some areas to pasteurize beverages. Each pair of stoves costs approximately USD 162 and can be financed via an interest-free microcredit loan from an undisclosed partner institution, which is repaid by the household in increments of USD 8 per week. According to FMCN, a traditional wood-burning stove releases 7.14 tons of carbon dioxide annually, while the use of the improved stove and solar cooker releases approximately 3 tons of carbon dioxide.

Based on the reduced emissions, the project sponsors hope that the sale of carbon credits, tradable permits for emitting a certain amount of carbon dioxide, to buyers in the voluntary market in Australia, Brazil, Chile, Japan and the US can provide income to further expand the use of fuel-efficient cook stoves and provide training on their use, allowing women to shift time spent gathering wood to activities such as education or working outside the home. The project has been certified by The Gold Standard Foundation, a Geneva-based organization that establishes standards for carbon mitigation projects, with the aim of facilitating sales of carbon credits.

By Jennifer Young, Research Associate

About U’yo’olché
Founded in 1994, U’yo’olché is an environmental non governmental organization (NGO) that works in the areas of community forest management, ecotourism and biodiversity monitoring to promote rural development in the southern Mexican states of Quintana Roo, Yucatán and Campeche.

About Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, A.C. (FMCN)
Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, A.C. (FMCN), also known as the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature, A.C., is a nonprofit organization incorporated under Mexican law as a civil association in 1994. The mission of FMCN is to give financial support to strengthen efforts for the conservation of biodiversity in Mexico. As of 2010, FMCN reported total assets of MXN 1.5 billion (USD 120.9 million).

About The Gold Standard Foundation
The Gold Standard Foundation, a Geneva-based organization that establishes standards for carbon mitigation projects, was established in 2003 by the World Wildlife Fund, a nonprofit that focuses on wildlife conservation in general and endangered species in particular. As of 2013, Gold Standard has certified 63 initiatives in Latin America.

Sources and Additional Resources

Thomson Reuters Foundation Story: “Carbon Credits Could Finance Improved Cookstoves in Mexico”
http://www.trust.org/item/20130425121502.0000-nt1o5/

U’yo’olché Website: http://www.uyoolche.org.mx/

MicroCapital Story: “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Citi to Buy 1.1m Tons of Carbon Credits fro MicroEnergy Credits, Offsetting Cost of Efficient Heaters Financed by Mongolian Microfinance Institution XacBank,” May 1, 2012.
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-citi-to-buy-1-1m-tons-of-carbon-credits-from-microenergy-credits-offsetting-cost-of-efficient-heaters-financed-by-mongolian-microfinance-institution-xacbank/

MicroCapital Story: “SPECIAL REPORT: The Merger of Microfinance and Carbon Finance – A Mechanism for Small-Scale Technology Transfer,” May 6, 2010.
https://www.microcapital.org/special-report-the-merger-of-microfinance-and-carbon-finance-%E2%80%93-a-mechanism-for-small-scale-technology-transfer/

MicroCapital Story: “PAPER WRAP-UP: Microfinance and Climate Change: Threats and Opportunities, by Paul Rippey,” April 14, 2009.
https://www.microcapital.org/paper-wrap-up-microfinance-and-climate-change-threats-and-opportunities-by-paul-rippey/

MicroCapital Story: “MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Curbing Debt Stress, Social Performance in Mexico, UN Human Development Report: The Rise of the South,” March 29, 2013.
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinance-publication-round-up-curbing-debt-stress-social-performance-in-mexico-un-human-development-report-the-rise-of-the-south/

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