About us.
What is SCIF?
What do we aim to do?
2. To foster improvements to the health and wellbeing of communities in LMICs, especially women and girls, by improving access to basic amenities and fostering economic empowerment for sustainable subsistence living.
The story of the SCIF at LSHTM.
Pioneering an ethical approach to climate change solutions
The SCIF is a not-for-profit subsidiary of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). While an independent entity with a separate governance and management structure, the parent and subsidiary organisations complement each another. The ethos of the SCIF aligns with LSHTM’s mission of improving health worldwide. And working in partnership is a key driver to bringing about positive and sustainable change for people and communities globally.
Working in partnership to create solutions
We work hand in hand on the ground with communities in Uganda and The Gambia where LSHTM already has a presence. Through partnership working, we will use carbon offsetting as a means to deliver sustainable solutions for people and planet. SCIF projects will provide independently-verified carbon credits. These will be reinvested into more community projects, and contributing organisations can also use them to offset their residual carbon footprint.
Drawing on LSHTM’s knowledge and experience in global health
LSHTM has many years of experience working with partners in Africa and LMIC countries, on research and education in public health, healthcare and community wellbeing. This includes via the Medical Research Council (MRC) Unit The Gambia at LSHTM and The Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit.
Unlike other offsetting schemes, the SCIF draws on LSHTM’s expertise in global health to put health and wellbeing at the heart of everything. Project development is further underpinned by local knowledge and research on health and wellbeing in Uganda and The Gambia.
How to offset responsibly
LSHTM set up the SCIF as part of its carbon management plan which includes reducing emissions through improvements to infrastructure and operational changes. It will offset unavoidable residual emissions, for example overseas travel. As part of its sustainability drive, LSHTM saw potential benefits that local projects could provide in terms of both community health and greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
Creating the SCIF as a social enterprise focused on improving health, wellbeing and the environment enables LSHTM to drive forward its carbon reduction plans in a sustainable and responsible way – with the added bonus of offering a solution for other organisations wanting to do the same. By developing projects that are informed by research and insights from teams across LSHTM, we can better target and magnify project impacts in order to provide more holistic community-based solutions. These community-based solutions will also generate carbon credits to offset LSHTM’s emissions as well as partners who join the SCIF.
Through the SCIF, LSHTM is committing to offsetting responsibly and with care to make sure projects are independently verified and have a positive, sustainable impact on communities and the environment.