Today’s announcement by Sec. Hilary Clinton and the ensuing coverage is undoubtedly a landmark for the improved cookstove community and all those who have sought to address the risks posed by indoor air pollution around the world. For the people who have toiled in obscurity for decades trying to improve the stoves, for those who have lobbied to draw attention and financial support to the issue, and for those who are hard at work around the world today implementing cook stove programs, today is a very special day, and hopefully the beginning of larger sustained global effort. So, congratulations to Continue reading
Human development
USA to provide $50M in seed money for launch of global clean cookstove campaign
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to announce a significant commitment to a group working to address the problem, with a goal of providing 100 million clean-burning stoves to villages in Africa, Asia and South America by 2020.
The United States is providing about $50 million in seed money over five years for the project, known as the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.
The big win: energy efficiency for the BoP
Will 3 billion people ever see this? …on this?… … or this? This week 150 heads of state and a Who’s Who of global celebrities will gather in New York to make a last push for the Millenium Development Goals (MDG), the UN’s flagship antipoverty campaign which aims to improve conditions by 2015 for more than half of the planet’s citizens mired in poverty, disease, and environmental degradation. Noticeably absent from the meeting will be the One Tool that can measurably and directly deliver results across all eight MDGs: better energy efficiency for the almost 3 billion people on Earth Continue reading
Struggle to agree UN summit kickstart for Millennium goals
By Tim Witcher (AFP) – 1 day ago UNITED NATIONS — World powers are moving slowly toward an accord on the strategy to be embraced at a looming United Nations summit aiming to get the lofty Millennium Development Goals back on track. Ten years after more than 150 leaders set eight ambitious targets for 2015 — ranging from cutting child mortality rates by two thirds, to halving the number of people living in absolute poverty and spreading access to the Internet — none are likely to be reached, experts say. Fallout from the financial crisis, a lack of will and Continue reading
The missing MDG goal: energy poverty alleviation
First the good news: Jeffrey Sachs Charts the Way Forward for MDGs Ahead of UN Summit World-renowned economist calls on leaders to arrive at the New York meeting next month “with the agreed plans, partnerships, and financing to accelerate our progress.” Professor Jeffrey Sachs has outlined eight “major gaps” which need to be overcome if the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are to be achieved. These unmet objectives are in smallholder agriculture, education, water and sanitation, health, climate financing, empowering girls and women, infrastructure, and strategies and goals at the local level. His comments come ahead of the MDG summit, taking Continue reading