14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier today, multinational retailer Marks & Spencer has announced that, together with UNICEF, it wants to try to improve the life of people in Bangladesh by providing them with low-pollution stoves.
Reports issued by the World Health Organization say that, each year, about 49,000 people living in said country die due to exposure to air pollution caused by indoor cook stoves.
What's more, the World Health Organization says that of the 49,000 people killed by stoves emissions, 70% are children, Business Green reports.
Hoping to protect these kids and their families, UNICEF plans to ship several thousand brand new cook stoves to Bangladesh. The stoves would be both fuel-efficient and low-pollution, and curb carbon emissions by about a ton per year.
Marks & Spencer has agreed to partly fund the organization's carbon offset project. However, it is yet to detail exactly how much money it has decided to offer UNICEF.
“M&S will kick start the project in early 2014 by providing funds for 40,000 fuel efficient, low pollution cook stoves to be manufactured, sold and maintained by local entrepreneurs in Bangladesh,” Marks & Spencer writes in a press release.
“The project will be delivered to the highest environmental and development standards and aims to qualify for ‘The Gold Standard’ carbon credit certification. The move by M&S is part of its Plan A (M&S’s eco and ethical programme) commitment to be a carbon neutral company,” it adds.
Because they are 50% more efficient than run-off-the-mill cook stoves, the ones that UNICEF plans to send to Bangladesh are expected to yield significant benefits money-wise and in terms of protecting local forests.
Thus, the multinational retailer and UNICEF expect that people will start to use less wood, and that deforestation rates will drop. This is expected to translate into a lower flood risk in several of the country's regions.
“It is excellent news that M&S is working with UNICEF on this project which will not only help to reduce carbon emissions, but will tackle a health problem which is harming thousands of children across Bangladesh. This is a groundbreaking example of our corporate partners working hand in hand with us to deliver real benefits to children’s lives,” UNICEF President Lord Paddy Ashdown said in a statement.