SCB Group said recent visits to carbon projects the company has supported in Nepal reinforced confidence about selection criteria, integrity in implementation and disciplined monitoring and update procedures.
SCB’s head of carbon, Natalia Beales, was one of the team that visited three sites of a carbon offsetting project in the country, where up to 80% of the water is normally not safe to drink.
Beale noted that carbon offset projects not only reduce and removing carbon but also generate significant biodiversity and livelihood benefits.
This Nepal scheme finances the provision of clean drinking water filter units for communities including Shree Rastriya Secondary School, Janta Secondary School, as well as a community in Santpur in Southeast Nepal, the country’s most populous region.
Water filter units are installed in communities most affected by water-borne diseases in an environment where natural resources are scarce.
The project reduces illness associated with water sanitation and hygiene; it also tackles environmental issues including carbon emissions reductions from burning wood to purify drinking water.
“It is very important for us to be here, to ensure that one of our core values, which is integrity, is present throughout the implementation and the running of the project. Ensuring quality and credibility is essential both for us and for our customers who we provide with carbon neutral solutions along their pathway to net zero," said Beales.
“Being a customer-centric merchant, it is essential for us to have a very strict selection criteria for projects we are funding, to ensure the carbon offsets, which are issued from those projects are transparent, additional, verified and credible.
“Reputation and integrity are everything for us. Reputation and solid, sustainable image are at the forefront of many of our customers’ agendas,” she added.
SCB supports programs in Nepal to reduce child morbidity from preventable water-borne diseases, with water purification units also reducing the burden on women from spending valuable time collecting scare firewood.
“The impact of this carbon and livelihood programme is phenomenal," said Beale.
She added that it was “a huge responsibility to share this emotional journey and experience with our customers, to encourage them to support such subjects, through purchasing of carbon offsets, which won’t just contribute to climate action, but also to the enhancement of livelihood and wellbeing of many, many people in the world who are in desperate need of that.”
SCB said engaging in person with project stakeholders and communities allows the carbon team to “share our appreciation for what carbon finance can achieve together with local communities alongside carbon outcomes as well as the knock-on effect of corporate buying behavior changes".
