The project
Watch the story behind the project.
Filmed in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, this short film introduces the communities at the heart of the Healthier Homes, Healthier Forests project — the families receiving improved cookstoves, the TEM field teams delivering them, and the forests this work helps protect.
From an initial pilot in 2023 through the world-first VCU issuance under Verra VM0050 in August 2025, this is the project in the voices of the people delivering it on the ground.
The challenge — the Southern Highlands
One practice. Three serious harms.
Across the Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, more than 90% of households still cook over open fires inside their homes. It is a practice woven into daily life — but one that fills homes with toxic smoke, consumes hours of labour each week (mostly undertaken by women and children), and drives the steady loss of some of the world’s most biodiverse rainforests.
The Healthier Homes, Healthier Forests project addresses all of this at once. By distributing high-efficiency improved cookstoves free of charge to households across four Highland provinces, the project cuts firewood consumption by around two-thirds, dramatically reduces indoor air pollution, and protects ecologically significant forests — all while generating verified, high-impact carbon credits.
The stove — what changes
A cleaner way to cook.
The project’s improved cookstove compared to a traditional three-stone open fire — and the wider benefits it brings to every household that receives one.
Three-stone open fire baseline
- Burns large amounts of wood — drives local forest loss
- Heavy indoor smoke and PM2.5 exposure
- 3–5 firewood collection trips every week
- Open flame poses safety risk in the home
Improved cookstove the project stove
- Uses 71% less wood — 1 firewood trip per week
- 81% lower emissions, dramatically less smoke
- Cooking time equivalent or faster
- Significantly lower safety risk within the house
Project overview
The facts at a glance.
TEM owned and managed — delivered by locals, for locals.
Improved Cookstoves
High-efficiency clean cookstoves distributed free of charge to households.
Southern Highlands Province, PNG
Phase 1 delivered in Southern Highlands. Phase 2 expanding across four Highland provinces.
Verra VM0050
First project worldwide to issue credits under VM0050.
SD VISta certified 2025
Independent certification across eight UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Key impacts
- 20,000 cookstoves delivered in Phase 1 (complete)
- ~3 M tCO₂e to be avoided over the project’s 10-year lifetime
- First to issue credits under Verra’s high-integrity VM0050
- 8 SDGs independently certified under SD VISta
“This first project issuing credits under VM0050 is a perfect illustration of the life-transforming power of finance through carbon markets. Clean cookstoves reduce indoor air pollution, ease time poverty, and unlock opportunities, particularly for women. These are the kinds of integrated climate and development outcomes that the carbon market is known for delivering.”
Mandy Rambharos · CEO, Verra
Evidence of co-benefits
Beyond carbon credits.
Cleaner air, reduced health problems, decreased firewood consumption, new employment and training opportunities — real impact that transforms communities.
SD VISta (Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard) is Verra’s program for independently certifying these co-benefits. Unlike self-reported impact claims, SD VISta requires third-party expert auditors to verify that a project genuinely advances the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Tike’s story
Meet the families behind the numbers.
During the initial rollout of the project, the TEM team met Tike. Watch as he shares his story and explains what this improved cookstove means to him and his family.
Filmed in the Southern Highlands by the TEM International Projects team.
Phase 1 co-benefits
Aligned to eight UN Sustainable Development Goals.
20,000 stoves installed in the Southern Highlands, with Phase 2 scaling toward 200,000 households.
No poverty
Replaced 20,000 traditional stoves, reducing household firewood expenses and easing economic pressure.
Good health and well-being
Reduced indoor air pollution — PM2.5 emissions down 81.24% (from 943.3 to 177 mg/MJ). 100% of households report less smoke.
Quality education
Trained 30 local staff in climate and stove-monitoring skills, all achieving the 70% pass rate. Goal: 130 trained individuals.
Gender equality
Reduced firewood collection from 3–5 trips/week to 1 trip/week. 37.5% of staff are women, against a 50% target.
Affordable and clean energy
Installed 20,000 improved cookstoves in the Southern Highlands, progressing toward 200,000 clean-cooking households.
Decent work and economic growth
Created 30 jobs (2 full-time, 28 part-time) supporting project delivery, monitoring, and community engagement.
Climate action
Achieved 13,585 tCO₂e reductions in the initial monitoring period, with each stove estimated to reduce ~3 tCO₂e annually.
Life on land
Saved 13,525 tonnes of biomass (~3 tonnes per stove per year), reducing pressure on surrounding forests and boosting above-ground biomass.
Carbon credits from this project
Two ways to support the project.
Express interest for larger volumes and forward offtake — or purchase up to 10,000 tonnes of issued credits directly via TEM Online today.
TEM’s involvement
TEM is the project developer.
From the original pilot in the Southern Highlands in 2023, through Verra registration, methodology transition to VM0050, the build-out of local field teams, the first verification audit by SustainCERT, and the world-first VCU issuance in August 2025 — TEM’s International Projects team has led every step.
What TEM brings
- 12+ years of carbon market experience across the Asia-Pacific
- End-to-end project development — feasibility, registration, delivery, MRV, issuance
- Deep PNG relationships anchored by formal partnership with the CCDA
- A track record of integrity — strictest available methodologies, welcoming third-party scrutiny
“For buyers, this means working directly with the developer — no intermediaries, full transparency, and a direct line into the team delivering impact on the ground.”
Local stakeholder consultation
How communities shaped this project.
Before Phase 1, TEM and CCDA ran a formal Local Stakeholder Consultation in the Southern Highlands. Read more about how community input shaped the project’s design, distribution, and monitoring.
The Local Stakeholder Consultation is a formal step under Verra’s VCS program. It captures community feedback before a project begins delivery, ensuring design and monitoring reflect what local stakeholders actually need.
Article 6 & CORSIA
Built for compliance markets.
This project is purpose-built to meet the integrity standards that compliance buyers require.
Authorized credit pathway via PNG
The project is hosted in PNG with the Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA) as a delivery partner and is positioned to be among the first PNG-originated projects able to issue authorized credits once PNG’s Article 6 framework is operationalized. Revenue flows directly to CCDA, supporting national climate action aligned with PNG’s NDC.
An Implementation Agreement between PNG and Singapore was signed in December 2023 under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
The project has not yet received an LOA but is expected to receive one as PNG’s Article 6 framework becomes operational.
Aviation-ready
The project is registered under VM0050, One of the only cookstove methodologies endorsed by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), underscoring the strength and credibility of its approach.
The credits are aligned to be eligible under CORSIA (the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation), positioning this project for aviation-sector procurement as CORSIA Phase 2 scales up from 2027.
For buyers anticipating Article 6 demand or CORSIA-aligned procurement, this project’s robust MRV, independent verification by SustainCERT, and alignment with ICVCM standards provide the credibility and audit trail compliance markets require.
High integrity — built for serious buyers
Verified to the standards compliance buyers require.
The first project worldwide to issue credits under Verra VM0050 — a high-integrity cookstove methodology recognised for its rigorous standards. The project is also independently verified by SustainCERT, with SD VISta certification across eight UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Verra VM0050
World’s first project to issue credits under Verra’s high-integrity VM0050 cookstove methodology.
SD VISta
The project’s first issuance received SD VISta from Verra, independently certifying all of the project’s co-benefits across eight SDGs.
SustainCERT
Validation & verification accredited under Verra’s VCS program. First verification audit completed in 2025.
PNG CCDA partnership
Formal partnership with PNG’s Climate Change & Development Authority. Revenue flows support PNG’s national climate action and NDC delivery.
Carbon credits from this project
Two ways to support the project.
Express interest for larger volumes and forward offtake — or purchase up to 10,000 tonnes of issued credits directly via TEM Online today.