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The majority of Cambodians rely on fuel wood and charcoal in cooking their meals, driving significant deforestation in Cambodian forests and releasing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. This project replaces the traditional inefficient cooking pot with a new improved stove, resulting in substantial savings in the amount of charcoal fuel required to cook a meal. Importantly, the new stove produces less smoke, reducing the cook’s exposure to associated hazards and thereby improving health. Carbon finance is providing the backing to build capacity within the business.
The project
The widespread use of unsustainable biomass for domestic cooking is currently threatening the available forest resources in Cambodia where an estimated 369,000 tonnes are consumed for charcoal production each year; this destroys 45km2 of deciduous forests annually. Only 3% of this is projected to re-grow, which translates to significant average annual loss of forest. The process of charcoal production using earth mound kilns is also inefficient and leads to high emissions of greenhouse gases.
The most commonly used cooking stove is the traditional Lao stove which is not well insulated and looses a lot of heat to the atmosphere. This project involves the replacement of the traditional Lao stove with a new improved stove in communities across Cambodia, saving 20% on the charcoal fuel required for cooking. This significant reduction in the demand for charcoal for fuel reduces the pressure on Cambodia’s forests and generates emission reductions during charcoal production and use.
This was the first ever cook stove project to gain accreditation, using ClimateCare’s own pioneering methodology. ClimateCare developed the methodology creating a Project Design Document (PDD) in November 2006, from which the emission reductions have been verified by the independent consultancy DNV to the Voluntary Carbon Standard.
Benefits beyond emissions
Social:
- The stoves reduce fuel costs for families and frees up time otherwise spent gathering fuel wood.
- The resulting reduction of emissions, smoke and associated hazardous air pollutants improves the health of the stove users, typically mothers and children
Economic:
- Employment is created and capacity built throughout the supply chain (i.e. in manufacturing, distribution, retailing, quality control and project management).
- Cambodia’s technological self-reliance is improved through the project: where stoves are locally manufactured, specialist skills are being developed in-country.
Environmental:
- Significant savings in greenhouse gas emissions are achieved through a reduction in charcoal consumption.
- Pressure on remaining forest reserves in Cambodia is reduced, slowing widespread deforestation and aiding biodiversity conservation.
350 Day of Action: nations united in demanding climate change solutions
In a truly global movement, people across the world rallied around 350.org's Day of Action on Saturday 24th October. Their mission? To unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis. Focussing on the number 350 they symbolise the concentration (in ppm) that many consider to be the "safe" CO2 we can accept in our atmosphere without incurring a severe climate crisis.
The 350 participants of the Day of Action were really there to show world leaders that people everywhere are requesting a united approach and urgent action on climate change. World leaders have a responsibility to the planet and its people to make bold decisions in Copenhagen and commit to drastically cutting emissions
Below are just a few of the inspirational photos from the 350 Day of Action; visit www.350.org to view many more and see the scale of global commitment on climate change. The organisation is focussed on connecting people with others in their community and "leveraging the day of action for meaningful political change."
Sydney, Australia
Vinson Massif, Antarctica
Botswana
Chicago
Copenhagen, Denmark
Maldives
The Road to Copenhagen: Less than 40 days to go
Major global meetings have been taking place over the last month, in and outside the formal UN climate change process. But with less than 40 days to go now, the COP15 conference in Copenhagen this December is starting to come into view.
Last month’s climate change summit in New York showed some gain in political momentum, though a further preparatory UN meeting in Bangkok highlight the remaining presence of a gap between developed and developing countries, seemingly based above all on a mutual lack of trust. The main differences in thought are:
- Should a new legal instrument be introduced to replace Kyoto and be the foundation for a binding and comprehensive international agreement on climate?
This is what the EU would like, primarily to bring the US into the new arrangements, but the proposal met with some resistance at Bangkok. The rest of the developing world is suspicious of developed countries aiming to dodge ambitious new post-2012 targets. The approach was further undermined by the US freely acknowledging that they will be in no position to commit to any binding agreement.
- Unfortunately there has been little progress on agreeing mid-term targets for developed countries and commitments from developing countries. Norway brightened the political landscape by pledging an impressive 40% cut in 2020 compared with 1990 levels, but in general the impasse remains
- Financing discussions for climate mitigation and adaptation, essentially the wealth transfer from the developed to the developing world to finance climate actions, are still focussed on the institutions necessary to administer funds rather than concrete pledges themselves.
What can we hope to see from Copenhagen?
We have reason for remaining optimistic: a "successful" Copenhagen declaration can still be made if the outcome were roughly as follows:
- A strong political declaration is made to agree a way forward on how to address the post-2012 Kyoto period, which must include targets and actions
- A process is agreed on management of climate adaptation funds
- An agreement is made to continue existing and new financial market mechanisms post-2012
- A process is discussed that sees common international standards for measuring, reporting and verifying emission reductions
- An agreement is made to tackle deforestation through a global international mechanism
There is still time for significant and necessary breakthroughs to be made at a political level. It will require strong leadership and continued pressure from people across the world.
UK Government launches 4 degrees global warming impacts map
Foreign Secretary David Miliband yesterday launched a map highlighting the temperature rises likely to be experienced across the planet in as little as 50 years' time. It enables the world to see the catastrophic effects that global warming would have if it remains unchecked.
Presenting the map at the Science Museum in London, David and Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, presented the more recently predicted four-degree average temperature rise and the variation in effects that it would have across the globe. Work undertaken by British scientists to produce the climate change map has taken into account both sea and land temperatures, and explores the effects on wildlife, the Amazon rainforest and the poorest nations around the globe as populations are set to rise.
Of great interest is the varied warming effects they predict around the world. For example the most northern region of the Arctic Ocean may experience fifteen or sixteen degrees’ warming which would trigger the complete disappearance of all Arctic ice, thus leading to the extinction of wildlife including polar bears and walruses. And remember this is by 2060, or the lifetime of many current generations. Conversely, the United Kingdom may only see a rise of three degrees, yet the consequences of this would be drought and extreme heat-waves that the nation is as yet ill-equipped to deal with
The often overlooked impact is that of food production. A four degree rise as set out on the UK Government's map is very likely to lead to maize and wheat yields falling by 40 per cent across the world. More specifically, rice yields in China, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia could fall by 30 per cent, leaving many millions of people desperately short of a primary food source.
David Miliband stated the reason for publishing the map "is that for many people, not only in our own country but around the world, the penny hasn’t yet dropped that this climate change challenge is real, it's happening now." Now is our opportunity to agree a global accord, but also to take action on climate change, emissions, low carbon initiatives and sustainability.
View the interactive map:
The devastating impact of climate change on poverty in Bangladesh
The impacts of climate change on poor people in Bangladesh played a central role in discussions at a major conference held in Dhaka to mark World Poverty Day on the 17th October 2009. Taking place just 50 days before the start of the UNFCCC meeting in Copenhagen, one of the central themes of the conference was the link between extreme poverty and the adverse effects of climate change.
Bangladesh is extremely vulnerable to climate change. Located in low-lying river deltas, the impacts of weather extremes are augmented and, with the climate changing, such weather events are being seen more regularly. In a warmer climate impacts will be felt from tornados, floods, warmer temperatures and water scarcity. For a country where agriculture makes up 21 per cent of GDP, these threats are extremely serious for the 143 million people living there.
It is the poorest who are most vulnerable. Jim McAlpine, speaking at the Dhaka conference on behalf of DFID Bangladesh, said "the impacts of climate change are already being felt in Bangladesh with more erratic and extreme weather patterns. If sea levels rise by just one metre, a fifth of Bangladesh could disappear under water, forcing 30 million people from their homes." He continued, "the climate crisis represents one of the greatest threats to poverty reduction and the extreme poor are most at risk."
By 2050, in Bangladesh alone 70 million people could be affected annually by floods and 8 million by drought, with increasingly intense cyclones hitting the coast. The UK government has committed approximately £200 million over the next five years to help 6 million people improve their livelihoods and access to food. DFID itself is providing £75 million to support Bangladesh's national climate change strategy. This will help communities better prepare for disasters through shelters and embankments, strengthen the early warning systems that already save so many lives, and develop crops that are saline and arsenic tolerant.
But despite this promised aid, much more needs to be done. Taking just one impact of climate change, the increased salinity of soil in Bangladesh, crop failure is already causing mass migration of people from their country. The scale of the potential climate refugee crisis has only just begun to be considered. Bangladesh, for example, has the same population as half the United States or the whole population of Russia. And with so much at stake Bangladesh is one of many developing countries with a crucial political role to play in the ongoing international climate negotiations culminating in Copenhagen.
J.P. Morgan supports the Global Impact Investing Network
During the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, J.P. Morgan announced its support of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting more effective impact investing around the world. Impact investing is a new business strategy involving the use of for-profit investment to address social and environmental problems.
The GIIN will promote the infrastructure, activities, education, and research that enable more effective investing. Their work will involve a diverse range of institutions who can help to disseminate best practices and latest research, as well as providing a framework for measuring the social and environmental impacts that investment can have.
The GIIN, already supported by a $2.5 million commitment from the Rockefeller Foundation, has recently announced the receipt of a $750,000 commitment from J.P. Morgan to help grow the industry. Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of J.P. Morgan Chase said, "we're very excited by the momentum behind the GIIN and what it can accomplish. When you see the kind of progress impact investments have had in solving social and environmental challenges, it's extraordinary to think about what could be achieved as the industry grows and becomes more efficient."
In addition to its core initiatives, the GIIN will also support education, research and targeted outreach to help channel investments towards solutions for pressing social and environmental problems.
What you can do: 10 energy-saving steps to help you reduce emissions
Perhaps you’re sitting there wondering how you can have a meaningful impact in tackling climate change, as an individual? There is clearly so much resting on political negotiations it can be hard to know what to do next. So we’ve taken a few top tips from the UK’s Energy Saving Trust (EST); just simple ways you can save money and help tackle climate change through avoiding wasteful energy use.
Imagine the combined impact in reduced emissions if everyone across the world did a few of these!
| 1. |
Turn your thermostat down. Reducing your room temperature by 1°C could cut your heating bills by up to 10 percent and typically saves around £55 per year (based on UK figures). If you have a programmer, set your heating and hot water to come on only when required rather than all the time. |
| 2. |
Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat should be set at 60°C/140°F. |
| 3. |
Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows and check for draughts around windows and doors. |
| 4. |
Always turn off the lights when you leave a room. |
| 5. |
Don't leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave laptops and mobile phones on charge unnecessarily |
| 6. |
If possible, fill up the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher: one full load uses less energy than two half loads. |
| 7. |
Only boil as much water as you need (but remember to cover the elements if you're using an electric kettle). |
| 8. |
A dripping hot water tap wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath, so fix leaking taps and make sure they're fully turned off. |
| 9. |
Use energy-saving lightbulbs. They last up to 10 times longer than ordinary bulbs, and using one can save you around £40 over the lifetime of the bulb. This saving could be around £65 over its lifetime if you're replacing a high wattage incandescent bulb, or one used for more than a few hours a day. |
| 10. |
Do a home energy check on the EST website. Just answer some simple questions about your home and they'll give you a free, impartial report telling you how you can save up to £300 a year on your household energy bills. |
Act now and see how little it can cost to offset your carbon emissions and make a really
important contribution to help to fund emission reduction projects in the developing
world.
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