media Coverage
December 14, 2012
The Africa Report
Almost half a million people die each year in Sub-Saharan Africa from household air pollution, according to a new global study published today in[I] The Lancet[/I] medical journal. The Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 estimated 464,420 deaths a year are caused by household air pollution from cooking using fuels such as wood, charcoal and animal dung. This represents 13% of the 3.5 million deaths a year directly attributed to household air pollution.
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media Coverage
December 13, 2012
National Geographic
In a finding that confirms the devastating health impact of energy poverty, the landmark Global Burden of Disease study published today tallied 3.5 million annual deaths from respiratory illness due to burning of wood, brush, dung, and other biomass for fuel.
Cooking on traditional cookstoves is a far greater risk factor than poor water and sanitation, lead or radon pollution, or smog (ozone) and outdoor soot, according to the study in today’s Lancet, the largest ever systematic effort to describe the global distribution and causes of mortality. The data indicate that respiratory illness from breathing the emissions from inefficient cookstoves causes more than double the annual deaths attributed either to malaria (1.2 million) or to HIV/AIDS (1.5 million).
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media Coverage
December 12, 2012
Seattle PI
As you read this, half the world’s population is threatened each day by an environmental disaster that pollutes their homes and sickens them. The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves reports that nearly three billion people still cook over an open fire, yet this age-old method of cooking with solid fuels ranks as the planet’s fifth largest killer. The victims of chronic exposure to toxic smoke, or household air pollution (HAP), are overwhelmingly women and young children. The death toll is staggering: four million lives lost worldwide to HAP every year – double previous estimates, according to results of the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study, published in The Lancet.
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media Coverage
October 24, 2012
Huff Post Impact
I am in the midst of all these women with exciting, innovative business models that have social causes wrapped up into the core of their businesses. In the first hour that I met my other co-finalists for the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards here in Paris, I knew this experience would be a precious life memory to look back on. Sharing dinner with those seated next to me was proving me right about the diversity of ideas and enterprises that are out-of-the box and fresh, but with the eye to help fields such as disaster relief, sanitary solutions, medical progress and access to job markets.
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media Coverage
October 19, 2012
Think Global
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is willing to break the climate silence. In a speech on energy diplomacy yesterday afternoon at Georgetown University, Clinton talked about the importance of sustainability and climate issues on the international policy agenda. “We…have an interest in promoting new technologies and sources of energy – especially including renewables – to reduce pollution; to diversify the global energy supply; to create jobs; and to address the very real threat of climate change,” said Clinton.
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media Coverage
October 19, 2012
Department of State and Environmental Protection Agency
Some 3 billion people worldwide are dependent on rudimentary stoves that burn wood, dung or coal. These account for about 20% of black-carbon emissions globally, as well as 2 million deaths annually from smoke inhalation. More-sophisticated stoves could dramatically reduce these figures, helping to combat climate change and improve public health.
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media Coverage
October 16, 2012
Huffington Post
It's true. That's because almost half the world's population -- some three billion people -- rely on solid fuel to cook their food every day. When burned, fuels such as wood, charcoal, coal, animal waste and others emit harmful fumes that cause cancers, heart and lung diseases, cataracts, burns, and other ailments. Cooking kills people, to the shocking tune of 2 million each year.
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media Coverage
October 1, 2012
Business Line
A relatively less known source of environmental pollution is the kitchen — that is, cooking fuels and methods of cooking that cause Indoor Air Pollution, leading to life-threatening respiratory diseases. The solution lies in improving cooking methods to reduce smoke in the kitchen. This includes better ventilation, use of dry firewood, construction of chimneys and, most importantly, use of improvised stoves that consume less firewood and cut emissions. This is an area of work in which the Shell Foundation, the UK-based charity established by the oil major Royal Dutch Shell, is involved.
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media Coverage
September 10, 2012
ABC News
When it comes to diplomacy, food matters. That’s the message Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wants to send by championing the State Department’s global chef program. Launched Friday in a reception with expertly prepared American cuisine, The Diplomatic Culinary Program showcases 80 of America’s top chefs who will prepare meals for foreign leaders visiting the United States, as well as travel abroad conducting cooking demonstrations and hosting other global culinary experts.
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media Coverage
August 30, 2012
The OPIC Blog
Nearly every mother’s daily routine includes making meals for her children no matter where on this planet she happens to live. In the U.S., we have a range of easy, efficient appliances to choose from when preparing a meal – stovetop, oven, or a microwave, not to mention a variety of pre-packaged ready meals. But in many developing countries, where there is no access to power or not enough money to buy an appliance, cooking often entails the most basic of instruments – an open flame and a makeshift stove. These are not only difficult to manage; they are dangerous, bad for the environment and a major global health problem that demands urgent attention.
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