BURN and ECP announce investment to expand clean cooking access in Kenya to 170,000 new families

BURN and Environmental Commodity Partners (ECP) are pleased to announce a new collaboration to expand access to clean cooking technologies to families in Kenya. BURN, the world's largest vertically integrated, modern cookstove manufacturer in sub-Saharan Africa will manufacture, deliver, and rigorously monitor its world class efficient biomass stoves. ECP, a global investor in high quality carbon emissions reduction projects is providing a funding package that will subsidize 170,000 stoves to make them accessible to lower income Kenyans.

BURN manufactures the world’s most fuel efficient and durable biomass cookstoves, as well as a portfolio of LPG and electric cookstoves, all aimed at reducing carbon emissions from household cooking. Over the last 12 years, BURN has built a successful business while proving that cookstoves can deliver transformative social, financial, and environmental benefits. BURN stoves have positively impacted the lives of more than 11 million people around the world, saving consumers over $480 million in household fuel costs while preventing over 6 million tons of wood consumption. BURN’s facility in Nairobi, Kenya, has existing cookstove production capacity of 3 million per year, and is on track to produce 12 million per year by 2024.

ECP is a California based global asset manager specialising exclusively in emissions markets and high-integrity carbon projects. The firm was founded in 2017 and invests across a broad spectrum of environmental commodity markets and high-quality decarbonization projects around the world.

“BURN has accomplished something nobody in the clean cooking world anticipated ten years ago: they’ve built a world-leading manufacturing facility in Nairobi capable of supplying a large fraction of the world’s clean cooking needs,” said Blake Schaefer, founding Partner at ECP. “We are very pleased to partner with BURN to invest in providing access to these stoves for people who could not otherwise afford them.”

“We will continue in our quest to save lives and forests through our clean cooking revolution, and the support of partners and investors like ECP is critical to achieving our mission” said Peter Scott, BURN’s CEO, re-iterating BURN’s continued commitment to providing world-class, clean cooking technology to families the world.

The importance of projects like these cannot be overstated as an estimated 81% of sub-Saharan Africa still relies on inefficient biomass stoves for cooking, causing significant damage to the continent’s forests and the health of households.

ECP Enters 3-Year Deal Purchasing Australian Indigenous Savanna Burning Carbon Credits

The owners and managers of Olkola Traditional lands in Central Cape York have signed a three-year carbon credit deal with global asset manager Environmental Commodity Partners (ECP).

The Olkola Aboriginal Corporation, supported by Natural Carbon, led negotiations with ECP to co-create a fair agreement for the purchase of the majority of the credits produced by the Olkola Ajin – Olkola Fire Project.

The savanna burning project has potential to reduce 200,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over three years.

Olkola Aboriginal Corporation CEO Debbie Ross said the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) offtake sales agreement, ECP’s first in Australia, underscores the strong investor push for high-quality carbon credit projects which respect the role of local Indigenous people.

“The Olkola Aboriginal Corporation is delighted to have ECP as a long-term purchasing partner that values the integrity of Australian Indigenous savanna burning projects and the benefits they bring to Indigenous communities,” Ross said.

“This agreement sets a new benchmark for Australia’s carbon market in terms of how it involves First Nations communities in projects on their lands.”

ECP Partner Alex Rau commented: “These are Olkola Traditional Lands, their hard work, and their carbon. As offtaker and investor we want to see the Olkola conduct and expand their world-class land management practices with certainty, while benefiting from the upside potential of higher ACCU prices.”

Under the terms of the deal, the Olkola Aboriginal Corporation has: long-term price certainty that reflects the Australian market; agreement for the Olkola people to share fairly in any potential future market upside while being well protected from any downside; and maximised financial benefits for community, with Natural Carbon keeping its commission rate low.

Natural Carbon Chief Operating Officer Christopher Wheatley said the organisation is pleased to have been able to support the Olkola to execute a deal that is fair.

“We worked hand in hand with the Olkola throughout the negotiations– it’s their hard work that has generated these credits, so they should be able to decide how and to whom their credits are sold,” Wheatley said.

The three partners have also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore scalable nature-based opportunities, including blue carbon projects, that are fair for people and planet.

The Olkola Aboriginal Corporation and Natural Carbon have been in partnership since 2014, when they commenced their carbon project journey together. The new partnership with ECP is an exciting new milestone in that journey.

About the Olkola Aboriginal Corporation

The Olkola Aboriginal Corporation holds and manages 869,822 hectares of Olkola Traditional Lands, and stands as a corporation that represents the Olkola People of Cape York, Australia. Today, many Olkola people are living on country, in Cape York communities (Coen, Laura, Kowanyama, Hopevale, and Pormpuraaw) as well as other Queensland communities such as Cairns, Yarrabah, Townsville and Palm Island. The Olkola people are united in their quest to move forward, to return to country, to care for country and to pursue sustainable opportunities for country to provide for its people.

The Olkola Aboriginal Corporation is committed to achieving this aim of the Olkola people through: providing opportunities for all Olkola people to return to country and connect with country; and employing Olkola People to manage the growing estate of Olkola country that the Corporation is now responsible for. This includes the Olkola’s deep experience in implementing savanna burning carbon projects that deliver carbon credit income to their communities.