4TH PCIA FORUM TACKLES INDOOR AIR POLLUTION

UNCLAS KAMPALA 000419 DEPT FOR OES/IHB FOR DANIEL WILUSZ, INR/EC FOR PHILOP HOPKE DEPT PLEASE PASS TO EPA B.DOROSKI, J.MITCHELL, J.JETTER, AND J.MOSS PLEASE ALSO PASS TO HHS FOR WILLIAM MARTIN AND DENNIS WAGNER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV ECON PREL UG SUBJECT: 4TH PCIA FORUM TACKLES INDOOR AIR POLLUTION ¶1. (SUMMARY) Two-hundred and fifty experts from 35 countries gathered to discuss best practices for reducing exposure to deadly smoke from household cooking and heating at the 4th Biennial Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (PCIA) Forum in Kampala on March 23-28. Participants shared methods to design, test, and commercialize improved stoves that use less fuel and produce less smoke than traditional stove models. Participants were especially excited to learn how to claim carbon credits for greenhouse gas reductions from improved-stove projects. At the end of the workshop, the participants collectively pledged to support the dissemination of 26 million improved stoves by 2011. That is an ambitious target, but much more needs to be done to reach all three billion people who continue to rely on biomass fuels and coal to meet their basic energy needs. (END SUMMARY) ¶2. The Forum was co-sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),the non-governmental organization (NGO) Winrock International, and the German development corporation GTZ. Participants included representatives from the U.S. Departments of State and HHS, various African ministries, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, and numerous universities and NGOs. ¶3. Speakers at the opening ceremony highlighted the purpose and importance of the gathering. Reinhard Buchholz, German Ambassador to Uganda, said that several of the MDGs will not be achieved without addressing the problem of indoor air pollution (IAP). John Hoover, the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy to Uganda, encouraged the group to set ambitious goals and to turn best practices into common practices. Honorable James Baanabe Isingooma, from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development in Uganda, warned that, at present rate, his country will consume all of its biomass fuel by 2025. Godfrey Ndawula, from the same ministry, said the Ugandan Government needs support from PCIA members to achieve its goal to distribute four million cookstoves by 2017. Brenda Doroski, PCIA Coordinator at the EPA, described the impressive growth of the partnership: from 100 member organizations in 2006 to 250 in 2008, and from 125 Forum participants in 2007 to 250 in 2009. ¶4. The next five days offered a wide range of technical presentations, hands-on demonstrations, field visits, interactive discussions, planning meetings, and networking events. Highlights include: --- Presentations on stove design research from the EPA, on the commercialization of improved stoves from high-volume manufacturers in Central America and China, and on the health impacts of cookstove projects from Professor Kirk Smith of the University of California Berkeley. --- Demonstrations on how to monitor indoor air pollution and how to conduct standardized tests to measure the wood-burning efficiency of stoves; --- Field visits to a factory making improved stoves, a school using a large institutional improved-stove, and households using improved-stoves made by local artisans. ¶5. Participants at the Forum reported having helped 1.2 million households and 12 million people get access to cleaner cooking technologies since 2007. The PCIA Coordinators encouraged participants to use ideas discussed at the Forum to improve their projects, and to set ambitious goals for future cookstove distribution. By the end of the workshop participants set targets to distribute a combined total of over 26 million cookstoves by the next Forum in 2011. ¶6. For additional information, contact Forum attendees Dano Wilusz (wiluszdc@state.gov) from the State Department's Bureau of Oceans, Environment, and Science, or Philip Hopke (hopkepk@state.gov) from the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. ¶7. (COMMENT) The burgeoning PCIA membership and growing interest in PCIA events indicate that governments and non-governmental organizations are increasingly recognizing the problem of IAP, deforestation, and the value of the PCIA partnership. But while there were representatives from various African ministries, there was a notable absence from participants from ministries of health. The Department has and will continue to play an active role in engaging governments, including ministries of health, multi-lateral organizations, and NGOs to discuss the problem, encourage membership in PCIA, and identify opportunities to promote new solutions. (END COMMENT) HOOVER