LRQA successfully delivers major VCS contract to IDEI in India
(PRWEB UK) 28 February 2014 -- Last December, leading assurance provider LRQA India successfully delivered a contract under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) - a voluntary carbon scheme - to a new client, the International Development Enterprises India (IDEI). Thanks to LRQA’s extensive technical expertise and service, LRQA has subsequently gone on to win two more contracts from the client including a Programme of Activity (PoA) verification under the Gold Standard and the subsequent VCS verification of IDEI’s activities during 2013.
LRQA’s initial “Promotion of Low Cost Irrigation Devices in India’s Eastern States” VCS verification project involved the implementation of a low-cost, manually operated water lifting device called a Treadle Pump (TP) to irrigate small plots of land. By replacing environmentally-unfriendly diesel and electricity-operated pumps, the TP irrigation devices have measurably reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The first phase of the project involved the installation of some 68,386 TPs across six eastern states of India and eliminated more than 32,600 tonnes of CO2 during the first year of the project.
The emission reductions were verified by LRQA after rigorous samplings conducted during on-site visits in remote areas plus comprehensive interviews with TP users. IDEI’s technical staff and management also played an active role in ensuring the accuracy of LRQA’s approach to monitoring and data collection and provided our team and TP users with invaluable agricultural and technological support. In addition to crop selection, specific areas covered included micronutrient culture and usage. In addition, the switch to TPs has enhanced the quality of life for small farmers and their families in remote areas. The changes for the better were instantly apparent during each round of site visits and interviews and support LRQA’s stated mandate of Adding Value to Society.
The project is being supported by J.P. Morgan Ventures Energy Corporation, by extending the carbon finance in terms of purchasing the voluntary carbon credits generated. Project documentations were developed by Climate Secure Services which has been greatly appreciated by the stakeholders involved.
“I would like to congratulate team member, Arnab Deb, reviewers Ankush Jain and Prabodha Acharya for their unconditional support in the successful delivery of this project. This was an excellent example of teamwork in action,” said Archak Pattanaik, Climate Change Services Manager of LRQA South West Asia.
“Following the successful delivery of this particular VCS contract, LRQA is confident of expanding our service scope to new carbon markets and is already creating demand for projects that will generate positive returns for both local communities and stakeholders,” said Krishna K Nair, Business Centre Manager of LRQA South West Asia.
Notes to editors
About LRQA
LRQA is a member of the Lloyd’s Register group. LRQA is a leading independent provider of assurance services including assessment, certification, validation, verification and training across a broad spectrum of standards and schemes. For Group details see http://www.lr.org/entities.
About Lloyd’s Register
Lloyd’s Register (LR) is a global engineering, technical and business services organisation wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and engineering. Founded in 1760 as a marine classification society, LR now operates across many industry sectors, with over 9000 employees in 78 countries.
Philippa Weare, PR Manager, LRQA, http://www.lrqa.com, +44 2476882386, [email protected]
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