“Delivering efficient, clean energy to those who lack electricity is not as daunting as it sounds.” — Prof. Daniel M. Kammen, The World Bank Whether it was the topic at hand, or the possibility of catching a bite to eat, it was standing-room-only at a lunch-time panel last Monday at the UNDP offices in New York. On the agenda was how UN agencies and other development institutions plan to facilitate access to energy by 2030 for the 3 billion people worldwide who still lack electricity and clean cooking solutions. To kickstart this ambitious effort, the UN has declared 2012 the Continue reading
COP
Lost Kittens of 2010
Lost kittens is what we call the odds and ends we collect from the internet to share with you. As 2010 draws to close, we think this is a great time to thank all of you who have written to encourage us since we embarked on our mission only one year ago. Your words of support have kept us going and we hope you will continue sharing your thoughts in 2011. Creating a global community of stakeholders in the energy poverty sector is part of our mission but we can’t do this without you! We have a few treats in Continue reading
Cancun: What they’re saying
News roundup on Cancun
The piece that really caught our eye was an editorial by the Wall Street Journal on Saturday which all but sealed the coffin on multi-lateralism and a UN-brokered solution to Climate Change in Cancun.
The reason we’ve chosen to share the nay-sayer’s perspective is because that US remains a major emitter of greenhouse gases and there exists a powerful lobby of Climate Change-deniers that have grown increasingly confident since the sweep by Republicans in the recent November mid-term elections.
Cancun: A flat-line or heartbeat for energy poverty alleviation?
OPINION
When it comes to deploying energy efficient technologies — like clean cookstoves, improved charcoal-making kilns, and sustainable alternatives to wood, charcoal, and animal dung fuels for the world’s three billion energy poor — the ratio of words to action and funding has, until recently, been woefully lopsided.
Cancun’s Lost Kittens
The rural poor of the world are the custodians of huge quantities of terrestrial carbon. As an example about 60% of Africa’s carbon is found in the drylands of the continent. These are vast, sparsely vegetated areas mainly inhabited by poor farmers and pastoralists.
For poor farmers and pastoralists, conserving carbon is – of course – not a priority.