The journey to sustainable solid biomass fuel production & consumption begins June 15th

On June 15th, representatives from new energy companies, climate finance, governments, development agencies, multi-lateral banks, and NGOs will meet in Arusha, Tanzania, to begin discussions on a blueprint that will make woodfuels, charcoal, and other solid biomass fuels a truly renewable energy choice for developing countries.

About half of the world population depends today on solid biomass fuels for cooking and heating. Unfortunately, these fuels are most often unsustainably harvested and produced using inefficient technologies. These practices, which are most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa where over 90 percent of the population depends on solid biomass, lead to deforestation, serious public health risks, the perpetuation of the poverty cycle, and climate change.

The one-day Symposium & Workshop on Charcoal on June 15th will explore the impacts and implications of current biomass consumption trends in Africa and other developing countries, while also examining sustainable pathways for charcoal.

The event is part of a week-long conference organized by the Association of Tropical Biology & Conservation and the Society for Conservation Biology.

The principle outcome of the Symposium & Workshop is to set the foundations for a global International Conference on Charcoal (ICC) to be held in Africa in 2012. The goal of the ICC is to put forward a roadmap for the global sustainable production and consumption of charcoal for domestic and productive energy in developing countries.

The roadmap will be based on the recommendations issued by ICC working groups (to be established in Arusha on June 15th), and will be directed to governments, industry, and the new energy and carbon finance sectors.

Symposium Topics include:

1. Charcoal production and use: world country statistics and global trends.

2. The environmental impacts of charcoal production in tropical ecosystems of the world: a synthesis.

3. Predictable waves of sequential forest degradation and biodiversity loss spreading from an African city.

4. Narok’s charcoal commodity chain: land use change and charcoal production in southwestern Kenya.

5. A dark Charcoal Chain! Socio-economic exclusion in Senegal.

6. Millennium Development Goals and charcoal: the links and gaps with poverty alleviation and tropical forest conservation.

7. Charcoal production, poverty alleviation and woodland change in the Kapiri Mposhi District of Zambia

8. Cause of poverty or driver of development? The role of charcoal in national biomass energy strategies for Malawi and Tanzania.

9. The niche of charcoal in climate change initiatives (REDD+, CDM, PES): A case study for Tanzania.

10. Challenges and opportunities of addressing gender issues in the sustainable charcoal sector: Experiences of ENERGIA and TATEDO in Tanzania.

11. Charcoal production in Brazil: Does it pass the sustainability bar?

12. Challenges of introducing alternatives to traditional charcoal: The briquette industry in East Africa.

Participants include scientists from global research institutions, The World Bank, Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation, the government of Tanzania, Stockholm Environment Institute, Camco, WWF, and the Yale School of Forestry, among others.

The Principal Funder of the event is the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC).

Additional Sponsors include: CIFOR, FAO, CIGA – UNAM, and the Government of Tanzania.

Our Partner Organization are: Earth Institute (Columbia University, New York), The Nature Conservancy, International Lifeline Fund, Darfur Stove Project, Virunga Fund, UNEP.

The Charcoal Project is a co-sponsor of this event.

For more information, please visit: charcoal2012.org