This little carbon went to the market, this little carbon stayed home: (mis)aligned climate adaptation and mitigation in Andhra Pradesh, India

Keywords: Climate Justice, Mitigation, Adaptation, Development, Carbon Offsets, Cookstoves,
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 17

Abstract

In 2021, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced that the US government “will work with the Clean Cooking Alliance… to reduce emissions from home cooking and heating that contribute to climate change...” With this statement it appears that the fight to mitigate climate change will transpire in domestic cooking spaces in developing nations worldwide. In this paper we examine an improved cookstove (IC) program in Andhra Pradesh, India. We use this project to highlight, on one hand, how carbon finance misses the mark by delivering mitigation projects to residents on the front lines of climate change. While ICs deliver some benefits, there are other technologies—notably a bio-sands water filter—that households say will better assist their urgent climate adaptation needs. This means that the laboring bodies asked to shoulder the burden of climate change mitigation belong to those who contribute least to the problem. On the other hand, this IC program demonstrates how local non-profit groups have leveraged carbon finance to advance several community-oriented climate adaptation initiatives. Thus, rather than viewing this project solely through the lens of ‘front door mitigation’ (and the misalignments and exploitations it fosters), an honest program appraisal recognizes co-benefits that are generated through ‘backdoor adaptation’ practices overseen by local non-profit groups. Here we highlight how the pursuit of climate mitigation activates and expands these emergent labor practices and climate adaptation services.