First Climate’s and project developer Kosher Climate’s Kranti Clean Cooking project in India reaches important milestone / 1st issuance expected in Q3 2025
India-based “Kranti Clean Cooking Project,” co-developed by First Climate and Kosher Climate, has successfully completed the Gold Standard registration process and is on track for its first issuance of carbon credits later this year.
The core focus of the Kranti project is the promotion and distribution of locally manufactured, energy-efficient cookstoves throughout rural areas of rural Madhya Pradesh, which will reduce inefficient and emission-intensive cooking over open fires. Already in 2023, First Climate entered a contract to solidify an upfront investment in an improved cookstoves (ICS) project with partner, Kosher Climate, facilitating the developments that have now led to the successful Gold Standard registration.
Since that time, the project has undergone an intensive due diligence process, conducted related site visits, and run local stakeholder consultations to get feedback from the involved communities, and most recently, completed registration with Gold Standard. The distributionof the improved cookstoves has already been in full swing for some time now. Close to 50,000 ICS have already been dispursed and have been contributing to climate action through their daily use for the last 18 months. The project’s energy-saving technology not only uses significantly less wood but also reduces indoor air pollution levels, resulting in improved the air quality of the surrounding areas and reducing health-related risks.
Generally, once these emissions savings are verified by a certified third-party auditor and later approved by the Gold Standard, the first issuance of "verified emission reductions" also known as "VERs" can be released—marking another key milestone in the project’s mission to help climate change mitigation efforts while improving local livelihoods.
“By reducing emissions, relieving pressure on forests and improving people's health, the Kranti project is contributing to a cleaner and more sustainable future. The positive effects of the improved cooking stoves can be observed very concretely on site and with the project registration we have taken an important step towards being able to scale the project and its benefits in the future,” says Yves Keller, the project lead for the climate action partnership for First Climate.
Opening access to cleaner cooking
"Without this project, local families who rely on cooking over open fires, wouldn’t be able to afford improved cookstoves. The carbon credits generated by this initiative make the technology more accessible to larger number of households, enabling families to cook meals more efficiently. This reduces both the time and cost associated with collecting or purchasing firewood,” says Pablo Carballo Chanfón, another First Climate team member involved in the management of the project.
Chulhas (choo-luhs) are traditional clay or brick stoves used for cooking in many Indian households, especially in rural areas. They are typically used with non-sustainable wood, cow dung, or biomass as fuel and placed over open fire. While widely used for their affordability and cultural significance, traditional chulhas produce harmful, carbon-containing smoke, leading to health problems and climate concerns.
Next steps: Advancing toward carbon credit issuance
The current phase of the project is focused on completing a monitoring report, ensuring that all the data collected through project field tests and usage surveys has been accurately recorded and reported. Once finalized, the verification process will begin where a third-party auditor checks and confirms the reported data and its compliance with Gold Standard’s requirements. This critical step will pave the way for the issuance of the first carbon credits, marking a significant milestone in the project's impact on emissions reduction and sustainability efforts.
Carballo continues, “We are happy to have completed the registration process. Now we are looking forward to a successful project verification and receiving the resulting credits later this year. With more certainty on the volumes, bringing these credits to the voluntary carbon market and successfully commercializing them will be key in ensuring continued positive development of our cookstoves project and its multifaceted positive impact.”
