Does World Vision believe that climate change is occurring?
Yes. World Vision acknowledges the reality and danger of human induced climate change as detailed in the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report.
Why does World Vision care about climate change?
Climate change has the potential to greatly exacerbate poverty. The poor are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, the least able to protect themselves from its effects and the least able to recover from climatic disasters.
World Vision’s concern for the poor obliges us to address issues related to climate change. The solutions proposed to help mitigate and adapt to climate change will affect the trajectory of every country’s future development. In short, climate change will affect almost every aspect of World Vision’s work and mission in the years to come. As one of the world’s leading development NGOs, World Vision recognises that to serve the poor faithfully, we must take the challenge of climate change seriously.
Does World Vision's concern with climate change mean that the organisation is changing its focus?
No, we aim to be an environmentally-responsible NGO but we will always be a child-focused relief, development and advocacy agency, not an environmental organisation. Our concern for the poor means that we cannot ignore change in the environment that intimately affects their livelihoods.
What is World Vision doing about climate change?
World Vision is committed to helping communities prepare for climate change at the local level. We are increasing the implementation of environment-enhancing development activities such as reforestation, agro-forestry and conservation farming in World Vision’s programmes that both sequester greenhouse gases and increase communities’ adaptive capacity.
World Vision also focuses on disaster preparedness planning and improving food and water security in programme areas.
We are raising awareness about the contribution the poor can make toward climate change mitigation. We believe that children in impoverished communities should participate in planning and decision-making.
Many World Vision offices around the world are taking steps to measure and reduce their carbon emissions. World Vision Australia, for example, has adopted a board strategy that calls for an annual ten per cent cut in its carbon emissions.
What is carbon offsetting?
An individual or organisation can pay to have carbon emissions reduced or sequestered on their behalf in order to offset their emissions from everyday activities such as driving or using electricity. Carbon offsetting gives individuals and organisations the opportunity to contribute more to global carbon emissions reduction than they might otherwise be willing or able to. For example, if an individual must take frequent international business flights, they can purchase carbon offsets to help compensate for the carbon emitted by their travel.
Some firms and celebrities use offsets to create an ecologically conscious public image. Many purchase carbon credits because of the humanitarian benefits of the programmes that generate those credits. However, most individuals and organisations that get involved in carbon offsetting do so out of a sense of environmental responsibility.
What are the benefits of carbon offset credit projects?
Projects that sequester or reduce the emission of greenhouse gases may earn carbon offset credits, which can be sold in a number of fast-growing markets to a wide variety of consumers. Revenue generated from carbon credits can be re-invested in local communities to address needs in the areas of health and nutrition, education, water, sanitation, hygiene and economic development.
Therefore, carbon offset credit projects do not only address the issue of climate change, they also effectively contribute to poverty alleviation, transforming local communities and producing structural changes conducive for sustainable development.
Are purchasing carbon offsets just a way for people and companies to avoid changing environmentally harmful behaviours?
Dealing with climate change requires a multi-faceted approach that includes cutting emissions at the source as well as sequestering the greenhouse gases that are a byproduct of industralised societies. World Vision encourages not only offsetting but also reducing emissions emitted in the first place. The cap and trade system uses market forces to encourage countries and industries to both reduce and offset emissions. In addition, offsetting gives those living in poverty a chance to benefit from the carbon markets by allowing them to be a part of the solution while rewarding them financially. World Vision's aim is that as these bio-carbon markets grow, the impoverished will gain a voice in their environmental destiny and be compensated for fighting the effect of climate change in their own communities.
Where does the money from carbon credits go? How do you know it will benefit the community that worked on the carbon credits project?
The money belongs to the community, with the written understanding that it came from a community-based effort and that it will be spent on pre-determined health, education and similar projects that will benefit the entire community. World Vision’s role is to help the community come together to access the global carbon markets through a viable carbon credits project—which they would not be able to do on their own in most cases. By implementing these projects in communities where we are already working, World Vision will be able to work with the same community leaders and decision-making mechanisms to meet the community’s own development goals.
Where is World Vision implementing carbon offset credit projects?
World Vision has undertaken the following pilot projects:
World Vision Ethiopia: Sodo Agroforestry Project (2,233 hectares)
World Vision Chad: Hatab Project (9,000 hectares)
World Vision Malawi: Ngodzi-Matowe Agroforestry Project (9,000 hectares)
World Vision Angola: Cuando Cubango Projects (20,000 hectares)
World Vision Rwanda: Karaba / Nyarutovu Carbon Sequestration Project (3,450 hectares)
These proof-of-concept demonstration projects will serve as templates for the larger, global effort ahead.