Project Spotlight: Healthy Homes in Mexico

Approximately 13% of the total population (about 83 million people) in Latin America and the Caribbean have no access to clean and efficient cooking technologies, and therefore use an open fire or traditional (three-stone) stoves to prepare their food. (2022, Energy and Climate Partnership for the Americas)(2016, World Bank Group). It is estimated that in Mexico alone around 20% of the population cooks with firewood out of necessity (2019, National Institute of Health). As a result, families must cut down trees, burn a lot of firewood, and produce smoke inside their home. Inefficient burning of biomass as fuel has related health issues (respiratory, eye and skin diseases), caused by indoor air pollution, while also causing deforestation from the significant amount of fuelwood collected.

Every time they cook a meal on open fire, their own health and that of the planet is damaged. Clean cooking programmes, such as the Utsil Naj Project by Microsol, are designed to help solve this unnecessary damage, while improving the lives of communities along the way.

Microsol have an ambitious goal based on a very modest proposal: to generate long-term sustainability, seeking to improve the quality of life of communities and families by facilitating access to carbon certification for Improved Cookstoves (IC) projects. Our mission is to improve the livelihoods of rural communities in Latin America while reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) at the source. We have been present in Peru since 2008, and in Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico since 2012.

Our Utsil Naj project benefits Mexican communities facing diverse challenges that generate significant gaps in their quality of life. Lack of access to services, precarious living conditions and limitations to access resources and opportunities that meet their basic needs, are increased by the effects of climate change. The implementation of improved cookstove projects allow the benefitted families to improve their livelihoods by tackling the pollution-air-related diseases. Additionally, less wood is needed as fuel, leading to the preservation of local forests – supporting one of the most important kinds of carbon sinks globally, while reducing CO2 emissions. With this solution, rural families in Mexico can improve their health, prevent deforestation, and participate in the global fight against climate change.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IMPACT

“We struggled to cook because the air came in and it made a lot of smoke, damaging the eyes and the lungs because we inhaled all the smoke that was before. Nowadays, the smoke comes out of the chimney and it does not harm our health, that's the advantage with these cookstoves”, Santiago Edenina, beneficiary of the Utsil Naj Project in Veracruz, México.

The Project is certified by the well renowned Gold Standard. The positive impacts cover a wide range of social, environmental, and economic benefits, and are carefully measured and reported as contributions to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). So far, the Utsil Naj project has verified contributions towards 11 of the United National Sustainable Development Goals. Below you will find the latest figures obtained during the last project verification review.

• SDG 1 - No Poverty – Since the project's inception, 129,347 people have benefited from access to clean cooking technology.
• SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-Being - From 2015 to 2018, 98% of beneficiaries surveyed reported a reduction or elimination of coughing, respiratory diseases, and burns following the installation of improved cookstoves. Additionally, 94% noted less frequent or no occurrence of back pain.
• SDG 4 - Quality Education - Between 2015 and 2018, 99% of beneficiaries surveyed received training on the benefits and proper use of improved cookstoves, and 86% actively participated in the construction of the cookstoves.
• SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy – Since the project's launch, 26,953 improved cookstoves have been monitored, providing daily benefits to families.
• SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth - Between 2015 and 2018, 54 permanent jobs were created for local communities.
• SDG 13 - Climate Action – Since the project's inception, over 90,000 tCO2 have been prevented from being released into the atmosphere.
• SDG 15 - Life on Land – The use of improved cookstoves has saved 39,178 tons of wood annually, helping to prevent deforestation, reduce forest degradation, and maintain biodiversity.

SUPPORT THIS PROJECT

Utsil Naj is one of two Microsol’s programmes, which have been operating for the past 15 years within the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) and for which Microsol provides technical and commercial services. Our sustainable business model is based on the transparency and traceability of social and environmental impacts, as well as the financial flows generated by our programmes. Our carbon credit price is defined based on the production costs to achieve a proper revenue sharing and the long-term sustainability of our programmes. 100% of our selling price is reinvested in our project life cycle.

The carbon finance received through the sale of Gold Standard-certified carbon credits, funds the maintenance and sustainability activities of our programmes. It is essential to our progress as these project activities would not otherwise be financed.