Project Overview:
- Location: Rural Kenya
- Partners: Verst Carbon, Davison Water Drilling, Infratech Solutions
- Core Challenge: Chronic water scarcity in an arid region, exacerbated by climate changeA dual crisis of water scarcity and climate vulnerability, coupled with a significant WASH financing gap.
- WASHLAB Solution: A scalable, technology-driven model that generates high-integrity carbon credits to finance sustainable water access.
- Impact: Targeting ~343,670 tCO2e in emission reductions, providing safe water to ~240,000 beneficiaries, and creating a new stream of development finance.
Overview
- The Dual Challenge Water Scarcity and Climate Vulnerability Across rural Kenya, millions lack access to safe, reliable water, forcing them to rely on unsafe sources or to purify water by boiling it with biomass fuels like firewood and charcoal. This reality creates a vicious cycle: the reliance on biomass drives deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, exacerbating climate change, which in turn intensifies water scarcity. This dual challenge demands an innovative solution that addresses both immediate human needs and long-term environmental sustainability.
- An Investable Solution: Smart Technology at ScaleOur Climate-SMART WASH project is a technologically advanced, efficient, and scalable solution designed to break this cycle. The model involves deploying over 200 advanced water systems, primarily by retrofitting existing solar-powered boreholes with two key technologies: • **IoT-Based Remote Monitoring:** Real-time operational data ensures maximum efficiency, enables predictive maintenance, and provides robust data for verification. • **Automatic Chlorination:** This guarantees that water delivered at the point of collection meets WHO standards for safe drinking water, directly eliminating the need for boiling. By leveraging and upgrading existing infrastructure, this model allows for rapid deployment and impact, targeting approximately 240,000 beneficiaries across rural Kenya.
- A New Value Proposition: The Carbon Finance EngineThe core innovation of this project lies in its business model. By providing safe water and eliminating the need for wood-fueled boiling, the project generates significant, quantifiable carbon emission reductions. We have structured the project to produce high-quality Gold Standard Verified Emission Reductions (GSVERs), targeting approximately 343,670 $tCO_2e$ in the first five years.This creates a powerful new engine for financing WASH infrastructure. The project is designed with a diversified revenue model to ensure financial resilience and maximize impact: • Premium Carbon Credits: Revenue from the sale of GSVERs on the booming voluntary carbon market. Projects like ours, with strong social co-benefits, command premium prices. • Sustainable User Fees: Fair and affordable tariffs for water ensure operational costs are covered. • Innovative Data Monetization: Aggregated, anonymized IoT data provides valuable insights for regional planning, creating a potential future revenue stream. Crucially, this model is built on equitable partnership. A legally mandated 25% of gross carbon revenues are invested directly back into community-identified development projects, creating a virtuous cycle of investment and prosperity. 1 • The Impact: A Triple Bottom LineThe Climate-SMART WASH project is designed to deliver a powerful triple bottom line: • Environmental: A significant reduction in carbon emissions and deforestation. • Social: Drastically improved health outcomes from reduced waterborne diseases and empowered women and girls freed from the time-consuming task of collecting water and firewood. • Economic: Creation of new local economic development through community benefit funds and opportunities for local enterprise in operations and maintenance.
