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Global Compact International Yearbook 2013
Khasti Devi, a farmer from the village
of Mankanthpur in northern India, is
happy. She has a new kitchen. But she
is not pleased because she has conveni-
ences such as a dishwasher, refrigerator,
and steamer. Khasti has a new oven that
runs on biogas instead of wood. The fam-
ily uses a new biogas plant to produce
the biogas from the manure of its two
cows. This was not cheap: The family
contributed 40 percent of the total cost
of around 400 Swiss francs. They had to
spend 17 francs on a compost site. The
rest of the money – amounting to just
over 200 francs – comes from carbon-
offsetting compensation from Coop.
The retailer uses biogas plants such as
this to offset part of the emissions caused
by flying-in fresh produce. Coop and the
WWF intend to build several thousand
biogas plants in India. The WWF has
already successfully implemented similar
projects for Coop in Nepal. This helps
families and the climate, as a family uses
around 25 kg of wood for fuel each day.
The forest – as a valuable CO
2
storage
facility – is also protected. The Devi fam-
ily alone has reduced its CO
2
emissions
by around four tons per year, thanks to
the biogas plant. This corresponds to the
average annual output of a car, that is,
around 15,000 km traveled.
The small village of Mankanthpur, where
Khasti lives, is in northern India, half an
hour to the east of the Corbett National
Park in the Terai region. The fertile 800
km-long valley stretches along the south
Top-flight Compensation
Projects: The Climate,
People, and Animals All
Benefit
COOP
Offsetting CO
2
emissions is a good thing – but there is still a hint of a “sale of indulgences.”
Coop has found a solution: The Swiss retailer only invests in development projects that are
either developed by the WWF according to the Gold Standard or which are supported by
the WWF. They stand for maximum quality.
By Thomas Compagno, Coop