Girls' education is an incredibly powerful climate solution due to its stong relationship with child marriage prevention and subsequent delayed motherhood; impacting population growth and lowering consumption-based emissions. 130 million girls in the world's poorest and most climate-vulnerable communities are effectively excluded from education due to poverty. Humanitarian organizations in low-income countries constantly struggle to fundraise and are never able to fully meet the needs of the most marginalized.
SoGreen is a startup with a big heart and an even bigger ambition: A world where all girls realise their right to education and climate justice is placed at the heart of all climate action.
In collaboration with leading scientists at renowned European research institutions in the field of demography and climate science,* SoGreen has developed a methodology to quantify the climate impact of girls' education in tonnes CO2-equivalent avoided. This allows for the generation of carbon credits (1 ton = 1 carbon credit) which can be sold on the international carbon market to channel climate finance to girls' education.
In partnership with FAWEZA, a leading pan-African NGO focusing on girls' education, SoGreen's pilot project is being implemented in Zambia. Over the coming 5 years, the project will ensure a full secondary education for 180 marginalized girls. All carbon credits generated by the project have been sold ex ante to over 30 companies that have ambitious sustainability strategies, which allow for the use of carbon credits in addition to reducing their own emissions.
SoGreen aims to be the provider of the worlds most popular carbon credits within the next 5 years; resulting in a powerful reduction in emissions and a massive increase in educational attainment - a basic human right.
*International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany, and The Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (WIC) in Austria.