'Clean Cookstoves': US To Fund UN Climate Change Initiative Disguised as Foreign Aid

This arrived in an email directly from the U.S. State Department.  Over $100 million of our tax dollars at work -- outside of America.  This humane-sounding initiative is actually global climate change funding in disguise.

Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves:  The United States Commitment By the Numbers

Office of the Spokesman

U.S. State Department

Washington, D.C.

September 21, 2010

On September 21, 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a public-private partnership led by the United Nations Foundation, which focuses on creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household solutions.

The U.S. Department of State, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), all of whom are founding partners of the Alliance, have forged an unprecedented government effort to mobilize financial resources, top- level U.S. experts, and research and development tools to help the Alliance achieve its target of ‘100 by 20,’ which calls for 100 million homes to adopt clean and efficient stoves and fuels by 2020.
United States Commitment – $50.82 million over the next five years (broken down by agency)

Department of State/U.S. Agency for International Aid and Development (USAID) – $9.02 million

-The Department of State and USAID will commit $9.02 million over the next five years to address the harmful effects of smoke exposure from traditional cookstoves and will utilize its diplomatic outreach to encourage foreign government support.

-Funding will support applied and operational research into how people use improved stove technology and how indoor air quality and sanitation interventions can improve household environments and promote economic opportunities for women.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – $6 million

-EPA will contribute $6 million over the next 5 years to work with partners across the globe to advance this field in critical areas including:

Stove testing and evaluation in both the lab and the field;

Cookstove design innovations, possibly including a design competition and prize; and

Assessments focused on health and exposure benefits of improved stoves.

-In addition, it will draw the expertise, lessons learned, and network that we have developed in launching and leading the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air since 2002 to help the Alliance meet its 2020 goal.

Department of Energy (DOE) – $10 million

-DOE will contribute $10 million over the next five years and conduct research aimed at addressing technical barriers to the development of low emission, high efficiency cookstoves through activities in areas such as combustion, heat transfer, and materials development.

-DOE will also work to raise additional funding support for the Alliance through engagement with countries participating in the second Clean Energy Ministerial meeting scheduled for April 2011.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

-National Institutes of Health (NIH) –$24.7 million

• NIH will commit about $24.7 million over five years to support ongoing research and research training projects, as well as new efforts to develop improved measuring devices, expand epidemiologic studies and conduct clinical trials. Ongoing projects include studies on the cookstove-related effects on pulmonary and cardiac diseases, the relationship between indoor air pollution and low-birth weight, and studies on the most effective ways to introduce and educate users on safety and the proper use of cookstoves. Training programs help prepare scientists in low- and middle-income countries to engage in related research and evaluation activities.
• NIH will also lead and co-sponsor an international state-of-science cookstoves conference in late Spring 2011. The Office of Global Health Affairs, within HHS’ Office of the Secretary, will contribute $100,000 to support this conference.

-Centers for Disease Control (CDC) – $1 million

As a founding member the CDC is committing to working closely with Alliance members and the global community to:

Demonstrate the health benefits of implementing clean cookstove programs

Better understand the relationship between human exposures and health outcomes

Integrate cookstove implementation with other public health programs

Evaluate cookstove program implementation

OVERVIEW

• Nearly 2 million premature deaths every year: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1.9 million people die prematurely every year because of exposure to smoke from traditional cookstoves and open fires; that’s nearly 1 death every 16 seconds.
• 3 billion people are affected: Nearly half of the world’s population – are affected by exposure to smoke from traditional cookstoves and open fires.
• One of the Top Five Leading Causes of Disease in the Developing World: According to WHO estimates, exposure to smoke from traditional cookstoves accounts as one of the top five worst overall health risk factors in developing countries.
• ‘100 by 20’: The United States is committed to working with the Alliance to achieve the adoption of clean efficient cookstoves and fuels in 100 million households by 2020.
• 20 Founding Partners … and Growing: The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves include: The United Nations Foundation, Shell Foundation, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, World Health Organization (WHO), German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Deutsche Gesellchaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Morgan Stanley/Morgan Stanley Foundation, UN-Energy, World Food Programme, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (National Institutes of Health; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), UN High Commissioner for Refugees, SNV Netherlands Development Organization, Shell, Government of Peru, and the Government of Norway

PRN: 2010/1304