Plan Vivo, a leading carbon credit certification scheme, has extended and improved the carbon offset services it offers and has generated a range of new practical tools for environmental projects following support from the FIA Foundation.
Under the scheme, run by non profit organisation BR&D, carbon projects and community reforestation initiatives have been set up in Mexico, Uganda and Mozambique during the past decade. With FIA Foundation assistance, Plan Vivo has now been further developed to help a range of projects build up their capacity in order to reach more communities world wide.
This work undertaken by Plan Vivo with FIA Foundation support primarily analyses the Scolel Té project coordinated by Mexican environmental cooperative AMBIO. Its success in providing carbon finance to promote sustainable land use management and improve livelihoods in Mexico, while delivering carbon offset services is widely known. In October 2008 Scolel Té’s work was highlighted by the UK Government in its report into international financing to reduce forest loss.
Sheila Watson, FIA Foundation’s Director of Environment said: ”I am delighted that the support provided by the FIA Foundation is enabling the Plan Vivo team to improve the service it can offer. We are very keen to see how projects such as these, which are a practical response to a real environmental concern and which benefit the local community at the same time, can be disseminated more widely. We already offset the carbon footprint of the Foundation’s HQ with Plan Vivo, and I look forward to further collaboration with them in the future.”
Through the Plan Vivo System the purchase of such carbon credits helps both to mitigate climate change and also assists communities in developing countries invest, therefore contributing to poverty reduction. Carbon sequestration also has an important role in adapting to climate change, creating more resilient ecosystems and promoting biodiversity through planting and protecting native forests.
In research into Plan Vivo, the market was analysed and then potential customers were approached and interviewed. Results of the research are available upon request.
Following the research, several key changes were made. The AMBIO’s website was redesigned and now encompasses a PayPal system for voluntary donations, a carbon footprint evaluation section and information about the many benefits generated through this carbon sequestration project. In addition, the project has streamlined its product delivery service, by for example, creating a national payment system.
For further information on Plan Vivo visit:
http://www.planvivo.org/fx.planvivo/scheme/default.aspx