[Stoves] NIH Study, Alliance Op-Ed, Oslo Conference

[Radha.Muthiah]

Hello everyone,

 

I’d like to share a few exciting updates with you as October comes to a
close and as we prepare to publish the sector strategy report: 

 

Ø  Science recently published an article by Alliance Health Working Group
co-chair Bill Martin and his colleagues at the National Institutes of Health
on the scope of indoor air pollution and inefficient cooking, highlighting
the work of the Alliance in addressing the problem – including key support
for the Alliance from the U.S. Government. The article was complimented with
an editorial by former Peruvian first lady Pilar Nores Bodereau, whose
Sembrando project is an example of a cookstoves intervention that is bearing
positive results. Major outlets including Reuters
<http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/13/us-cookstoves-idUKTRE79C5G62011101
3> , AFP
<http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ie2kolKAgQ65-FeWVnnWa9xN
sr6A?docId=CNG.a3ab38cb5db8b5323b644de0172e361a.2b1>  and NPR
<http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/10/18/141455850/curbing-cooking-smoke
-that-kills-more-people-than-malaria>  ran corresponding stories. 

 

Ø  Today you’ll find an Alliance op-ed
<http://doc.mediaplanet.com/all_projects/8428.pdf>  in print copies of USA
Today in the New York, Washington, DC, Chicago and San Francisco media
markets. The op-ed is part of Media Planet’s third special insert on women
and girl’s issues to appear in the newspaper. The op-ed is on page 12, and
the Alliance logo and summary appearing among other organizations as a
supporter of the women and girls movement is on page 17.

 

Ø  The Alliance recently attended the Energy for All: financing access for
the poor conference hosted by the Government of Norway in cooperation with
the International Energy Agency (IEA) that took place in Oslo on October 10.
It convened a broad range of stakeholders including the UN
Secretary-General, heads of government, government ministers, and
representatives of international organizations, the public and private
sectors, financial institutions, civil society and academia. The conference
examined ways of mobilizing sufficient financial resources to achieve access
to energy for all by 2030 -  a vital aspect of the wider challenge of
securing sustainable energy for all.

 

I had the privilege to lead a panel on clean cookstoves and fuels as part of
a larger conversation on the role of civil society in increasing access to
energy. The panel was opened by Ingrid Fiskaa, the Norwegian State
Secretary, and included participation from: Jeffrey Haeni, United States
Agency for International Development; Els Boerhof, Goodwell Investments B.V;
Tokunboh Ishmael, CFA, Alitheia Capital Limited; Suraj Ologburo, CEO, Toyola
Energy Services; Mouhsine Serrar, Prakti Design Labs; Stefan Maard,
Novozymes; and Sagun Saxena, CleanStar. 

 

There were 10 key takeaways from the conference, including a specific
prioritization that delivering clean cooking facilities means an increased
use of more efficient stoves based on biomass, biogas and LPG, and that the
funding needed to solve the problem of polluting cooking facilities is
modest. Conference organizers determined that there is an urgent need to
find sustainable business models that meet cultural needs and provide
sufficient scale, coupled with a genuine political will to give priority to
this issue. Universal clean cooking will especially improve the living
conditions of women and children, they concluded.

 

·         Energy is a critical enabler. Universal access to modern energy
services underpins human well-being and economic development.

·         Universal access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy
services by 2030 is both financially and technologically achievable. The UN
Secretary-General’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative provides an
excellent opportunity to catalyze action by all stakeholders towards this
end.

·         Finance will be raised from a combination of sources: the private
sector; developing country governments; official development assistance and
multilateral development institutions. Climate finance could provide
additional finance.

·         All energy sources and technical solutions must be utilized to
reach the goal of universal access whilst aiming to make the energy mix as
economically, socially and environmentally sustainable as possible. There is
a large untapped potential for using renewable energy resources in many
developing countries.

·         Government commitment and supportive policies are vital for
success. Key factors are strong governance and regulatory frameworks that
seek to minimize political and economic risks and encourage investments, as
well as strengthened capacity of national and local institutions.

·         The private sector has a pivotal role to play, encompassing a
range of actors from local entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and international
and domestic project developers, to international banks, local banks,
micro-finance institutions and foundations.

·         Financing for clean cookstoves is a priority.

·         Policies and other actions should target the poorest.

·         The International Energy and Climate Initiative, Energy+, was
launched with the aim of reducing risks and enabling a better environment
for private and commercial investments in energy access.

·         All stakeholders have an important role to play in achieving
universal access by 2030.

 

Sincerely,

 

cid:image001.jpg at 01CC9591.84311EF0

 

Radha Muthiah

 

 

cid:image002.png at 01CC7F4C.1B4DFE40

 

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