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Clean cooking

2.8 billion people worldwide are still reliable on traditional and dirty fuels such as charcoal, firewood, animal dung or kerosene for their daily cooking needs. Therefore, they are severely exposed to household air pollution resulting in serious health issues.

The majority of them live in 20 High Impact Countries (HICs) in Africa and Asia. There is an urgent need to support these countries in developing cleaner fuel options to tackle this problem.

In this context, within the framework of the G20 declarations and recommendations for Forward-looking Options for Enabling Pathways for Universal Access to Energy,  UNIDO and Clean Cooking Alliance together with the African Union (AU); UN-Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP); the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) and its multilateral donor community; and the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL)  intend to support the 20 HICs in their efforts in transitioning to renewable biofuel-based transportation and cooking solutions, relying on their agriculture and industrial strength. This in turn will also contribute to their SDG targets and NDC commitments.

Our Expert Group Meeting (EGM) of key policy and decision makers from the HICs and all other relevant stakeholders will be organized to deliberate and identify strategies to achieve universal access to clean energy for cooking and create an impact by 2030.

For Session 1 on "The Opportunity, Challenge and Approach", please register here.

For Session 2 on "Linking Agriculture, Industry, Energy and Markets", please register here.

  • Event details
  • Objectives and expected outcomes
  • Background information
  • Agenda

  • Date and Venue: The EGM will take place virtually from 23rd to 25th June 2021 (3 half-day sessions). The meeting will be set up through ZOOM or other virtual meeting platforms. 

    Language: English

    Participants:

    • Policy makers from 20 HICs and selected other member states;
    • Organization/ entities in the area of clean cooking
    • Development partners/ DFIs

  • The main objective of the EGM is to provide a platform for policy and decision makers from HICs to come up with strategies for developing a local bioethanol industry thereby achieving self-reliance and security in energy as well as achieving their SDG targets and NDC commitments. In this context, the deliberations at the EGM, manifested in the EGM Declaration and Report, will also inform international processes such as the G20 Energy Group, High-Level Dialogue on Energy, and COP26.

    Our expected outcomes are the following:

    • Consensus and declaration on establishing a round table of HICs on clean cooking;
    • Validation of biofuels (ethanol) as viable clean fuels for DCs, LDCs and SIDSs to tackle the household cooking energy problem;
    • Report of EGM and related publications.

  • Developing local bioenergy industries has not only a direct impact on an overall access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy across the globe (SDG 7), but positively contributes to economic, social, and environmental challenges and thus supports these countries in achieving their NDCs and SDG. Economic development and job creation (SDG 8) in the clean energy sector can sustainably improve the standard of living and thus contribute to poverty alleviation (SDG 1) and improved health conditions (SDG 3) especially for women and children who are over proportionally affected by household air pollution (SDG 5). Production, promotion, and consumption of biofuels, furthermore, positively affect the environment by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and widespread deforestation, and thus climate change (SDG 11, 12 & 13).

    Deploying local bioenergy industries in HICs needs to be complemented with a careful consideration of occurring barriers and risks that need to be mitigated to avoid adverse effects. Creating global partnerships (SDG 17) to exchange experiences and lessons learned are highly beneficial to do so.

  • TENTATIVE

    23 June 2021

    09:30 -10:00 AM Opening Session

    • Welcome Remarks by UNIDO 
    • Opening statement by Atef Marzouk, Director, Infrastructure and Energy, AUC
    • Opening message by Dymphna van der Lans, CEO, CCA
    • Moderator: Martin Hiller, Lead Facilitator

    10:00 - 12:00 AM Session 1 on "The Opportunity, Challenge and Approach"

    • Clean Cooking Challenge in HICs by Olivia Coldrey, Head of Energy Finance and Clean Cooking, SEfALL
    • Bioethanol: An Opportunity for self-reliance and energy security by Dina Bacovsky, Unit Head, Biofuels, BEST
    • Supporting investments for biofuels based clean cooking – EU perspective by Cedric Merel, Head of Cooperation, EU
    • Clean Cooking Sector Strategy by Ronan Ferguson, Senior Manager, Private Sector & Market Insights, CCA
    • Potential and challenges of ethanol-based cooking and blending in Africa by Monga Mehlwana, Energy Infrastructure and Service, UNECA
    • Potential and challenges of ethanol-based cooking and blending in Asia by Michael Williamson, Chief, Energy Section, ESCAP
    • Moderator: Tareq Emtairah, Director, Department of Energy, UNIDO

    For Session 1, please register here.

    24 June 2021

    10:00 - 12:00 AM Session 2 on "Linking Agriculture, Industry, Energy and Markets"

    • Policy and regulatory regime for biofuels by Isaac Kiva, Secretary, Renewable Energy, Ministry of Energy, Kenya
    • South-South learning – policy lessons from sustainability assessments by Maria Michela Morese, Executive Secretary, GBEP
    • Potential of sugar Industry in meeting SDGs and NDC in developing countries by Seungwoo Kang, Associate Programme Officer, Bioenergy, IRENA
    • Global Impact Programme for Clean cooking by Jossy Thomas, Industrial Development Officer, UNIDO
    • Result Based Financing for Clean cooking: Tanzania experience by Lilian Mbassy, Director of Managed Funds, TIB Investment Bank
    • SPARK Fund for clean cooking by Peter George, Senior Advisor of Private Sector & Investment, CCA
    • Moderator: Martin Junginger, Full Professor, CISD, Utrecht University

    For Session 2, please register here.

    25 June 2021

    10:00 - 12:30 AM Session 3 (closed) on "Round Table of HICs on Clean Cooking"

    • Presentation of TOR for Round Table on Clean Cooking (Chair from Participants)
    • Deliberations by HIC Delegates (TOR and Draft report/communique)
    • Adoption of the report/communique
    • Closing of EGM

    All times in CET.

  • Agenda - Expert Group Meeting in Clean Cooking [ 361.65 KB ]
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