Sustainability
Sustainability @ HII
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Environmental Sustainability Policy & GHG Reduction Plan
Like all organisations, HII’s potential to impact the environment negatively is substantial.
HII views climate change as an existential crisis that disproportionately affects communities in less developed countries, that are the least responsible for causing it.
At HII we believe we must do everything we possibly can to reduce our contribution to climate change.
Every decision we make has a carbon footprint.
We must therefore take our environmental impact into account when making every decision.
Our Emissions
Every decision we make has a carbon footprint. Our unaudited emissions are reported as follows:
Total Gross Annual GHG Emissions = 40.42 tonnes of CO2 equivalent
Total Annual Emission Offsets = 45 tonnes of carbon credits
Total Net GHG Emissions = 0
With the source of our GHG emissions broken down into the three areas of scope:
Total Annual GHG Emissions Scope 1 = 0
Total Annual GHG Emissions Scope 2 = 3.13 tonnes of CO2 equivalent
Total Annual GHG Emissions Scope 3 = 37.29 tonnes of CO2 equivalent
By far the biggest source of GHG emissions for HII is project related travel, which accounted for 90.1% of our GHG emissions in 2023.
Put simply, after reducing our emissions in 2023 as much as possible, we still produced 40.42 tonnes of GHG emissions in 2023.
We added a contingency of 10% to account for possible accounting mistakes and then purchased carbon credits from the voluntary market to the equivalent of 45 tonnes.
Our Carbon Offsets
Carbon Offsets are an emission reduction technique seful only for residual emissions where further reductions are otherwise not possible.
Carbon credits are not perfect, but they are the next best thing to do with residual emissions – provided they are verified and high quality.
We purchased 45 tonnes of carbon credits through the Gold Standard, ensuring that they are both independently audited and of high quality. The carbon credits we purchased were also designed to benefit the communities in which we work – each benefiting communities and the environment in different ways.
HII paid USD 1,185.00 for the carbon credits. The credits are:
Somalia
20 tonnes of Carbon Credits purchased at a cost of USD 400.00
Project Description: This project helps families transition to BURN’s JIKOKOA, the world’s most fuel-efficient biomass stove. The JIKOKOA, reduces charcoal consumption by 64% – slowing deforestation and saving Somalian families $130 million to date. It also reduces indoor air pollution by 65%, with families reporting that they get ill less often. These health benefits, tied with fuel and time savings, help reduce gender inequities, improve lives, and save forests.
Uganda
15 tonnes of Carbon Credits purchased at a cost of USD 375.00
Project Description: This is the first project to be certified under the Gold Standard’s Gender Responsive Framework which means that the project has been rigorously assessed to reduce gender inequality.
Having no safe water access forces communities to use unsafe sources such as streams to get their water – which has to be boiled to make it safe. To boil the water, communities collect and burn firewood, which places greater pressure on dwindling forests and produces CO2 emissions. It also creates a burden for women and children, who typically spend hours every day collecting firewood and water.
Ethiopia
5 tonnes of Carbon Credits purchased at a cost of USD 150.00
Project Description: Rapid deforestation in Ethiopia is leading to increasing drought. Coffee farmers (often women) that depend on the income that their land generates and are financially unable to bear the consequences of the changing climate.
In this project, nearly 6,000 households are benefitting from a more efficient cookstove which replaces cooking on an open fire.
Cooking with the Tikikil and Mirt reduces the use of wood and CO2 emissions by 40%.
Costa Rica
5 tonnes of Carbon Credits purchased at a cost of USD 260.00
Project Description: Since the start of the project in 2007, an area of 2,115ha of pastureland, previously used for extensive cattle ranching, has been under sustainable management. 1,280ha have been successively reforested in near natural mixed forest plantations with mainly native tree species. In total, more than one million trees were planted using a variety of 17 different tree species. The plantations are managed as a continuous forest cover.
About 25% of the total project area consists of remaining old-growth and secondary forest and wetlands – some of them classified and managed as high conservation value forests (HCVF) according to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Our Carbon Retirement Certificate
The credit retirement certificate for these offsets is provided here for verification.
The Academy, 42 Pearse Street, Dublin, Ireland D02 KA44
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