1001fontaines partners with EcoAct on safe drinking water certification project in Cambodia

PRESS RELEASE – PARIS, 2^nd NOVEMBER 2021: EcoAct, an Atos company, and 1001fontaines partner on joint social project to provide affordable access to clean drinking water to 750,000 people in Cambodia through the distribution of more than 250 water kiosks.

EcoAct, an Atos company, will assist 1001fontaines in the carbon certification of its safe drinking water project in Cambodia. EcoAct has over 15 years of experience in the development and management of low-carbon projects with a strong environmental and social impact.

EcoAct’s projects are specifically developed to avoid, reduce and remove greenhouse gas emissions while addressing local community challenges and promoting sustainable development worldwide. As a project developer, EcoAct regularly invests in initiatives with positive social benefits, such as improved cookstoves and water access projects, and is developing a programme of activities on these technologies in Africa. Its aim is to draw on its expertise in this field to develop similar projects in other geographical areas such as South East Asia. To this end, EcoAct has partnered with 1001fontaines, which has a recognised operational experience in the area and in the technologies that produce clean, safe drinking water.

A high-impact social project

In Cambodia, more than 6 million people do not have access to safe drinking water due to the lack of reliable infrastructure to ensure sufficient water quality. Nearly 77% of Cambodians live in rural areas where no drinking water facilities exist.

In this context, 1001fontaines, and its local organisation Teuk Saat, are developing small solar-powered water purification plants, also known as water kiosks, and delivering filtered water to surrounding households as part of the Anakot Thmei project. While there are currently more than 260 active water kiosks, which benefit around 830,000 people, a further 250 new sites will be launched by 2030.

The water is generally sourced from surface waters (ponds, rivers) or from boreholes of limited depth, which is then purified using an ultraviolet sterilisation technique (100% powered by solar energy). Finally, it is packaged in a 20-litre cylinder, which is equivalent to the consumption of a family of four for 2-3 days.

The Anakot Thmei project operates through an entrepreneurial model, as the water kiosks and their distribution are run by trained, local entrepreneurs. Through a franchising system and the creation of local micro-enterprises, the project has the potential to stimulate economic activity that will enable vulnerable local communities to lift themselves out of extreme poverty. 1001fontaines and its local partner Teuk Saat plan the construction of the kiosks, provide technical support and mentoring, and monitor water quality.

EcoAct’s role in Gold Standard certification process

All projects supported and/or developed by EcoAct are audited and certified by a third party according to internationally recognised standards and rigorous methodologies to ensure that the carbon credits and the co-benefits delivered are measurable, verified and real.

For this project, EcoAct:

• Identifies the Gold Standard methodology  as the most suitable for the technology to be implemented, then ensures that the requirements are met
• Supports 1001fontaines in carrying out stakeholder consultations, surveys and field tests for the definition of baseline and project scenarios, and defines the guidelines to be followed in the field to comply with the TPDDTEC (Technologies and Practices to Displace Decentralized Thermal Energy Consumption) methodology
• Writes the deliverables for the validation, certification and monitoring of the project up to the generation of carbon credits (Key Project Information document, PDD, Local Stakeholder Consultation Report, Monitoring report, …)
• Estimates that this project will generate around 300,000 carbon credits, equivalent to 300,000 tonnes of CO₂ avoided

The revenues from carbon finance will mainly be used to finance the creation of new kiosks and the renovation of older kiosks.

 

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Notes on 1001fontaines partnership

About EcoAct

EcoAct, an Atos company since October 2020, is an international sustainability consultancy and project developer that supports companies and organisations by providing the most efficient and holistic solutions to effectively meet the challenges of climate change. Founded in France in 2006 by Thierry Fornas and Gérald Maradan, EcoAct has offices in 7 countries and 3 continents around the world: Paris, Lyon, Barcelona, London, New York, Montreal, Munich and Embu in Kenya.

With a team of more than 170 experts in decarbonisation strategy, EcoAct enables managers and their teams to transform their business model and reduce their carbon emissions while driving commercial performance. EcoAct’s core purpose is to inform and lead sustainable strategies that create value and benefit its clients as well as the climate, and the environment. EcoAct is a CDP Gold Partner, a founding member of ICROA, a strategic partner in the implementation of the Gold Standard for the Global Goals and reports to the UN Global Compact.

 

About 1001fontaines

1001fontaines is a French non-profit organization, created in 2004, whose mission is to improve the health of vulnerable populations through the sustainable provision of safe drinking water. Pioneers of the decentralised water kiosk model, which allows the purification and distribution of water directly to targeted rural areas, 1001fontaines has demonstrated the economic sustainability of this approach, its impact on health, the environment and the economic development of villages, and its capacity for growth and replication.

Today, the organisation operates in present in four countries: Cambodia, Madagascar, Myanmar and Vietnam, and serves more than 850,000 consumers through a network of 275 active water kiosks. Building on its 16 years of experience, 1001fontaines intends to continue deploying this innovative approach to reach 3 million consumers by 2025, and 8 million by 2030, and thus contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6 on universal access to safe drinking water.