Advocacy and Action
Advocacy
United Nation's Sustainable Energy for All
In support of the UN's Sustainable Energy for All, the Energy Project coordinates advocacy events on energy and related issues of climate, ecology and sustainable development including panels, film screenings, art exhibits and local volunteer opportunities. Sustainable development is not possible without sustainable energy. Access to modern energy services is fundamental to human development and an investment in our collective future. Sustainable Energy for All has generated significant momentum since its launch. More than 75 countries have chosen to pursue Sustainable Energy for All’s objectives, from small island states to large, emerging economies. Over 50 High Impact Opportunities (HIOs) have been identified, with a wide range of stakeholders undertaking actions that will have significant potential to advance Sustainable Energy for All. Governments, the private sector, and multilateral institutions alike are mobilizing resources in support of the initiative’s three objectives. The Energy Project of the UNA-USA includes an advocacy and events program, which is implemented with the support of members of an ad-hoc working group as well as the Division's Young Professionals Program. The UNA-USA will work with partners and strategic collaborations to maximize the reach of its advocacy under the Energy Project. In support of the goals of the UN's Sustainable Energy for All, the Energy Project seeks to leverage its relations with members of the academic and diplomatic communities, as well as with the United Nations system. The Project also works with the UN Foundation's Global Alliance for Clean Cook Stoves and the Energy Future Coalition where possible. We hope you enjoy exploring these pages and hope to see you at our events. Join us to promote the UN's Sustainable Energy for All initiative. Explore with us the inter-related issues of clean energy, climate and ecology from a global, regional, domestic and local perspective.
If you would like to know more or are interested in helping, please e-mail us at [email protected] and we will keep you posted on our upcoming planning meeting. Clean Cook Stove Video
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Action Project
Clean Cook Stove Project
The Energy Project is planning to work with partners on an action project to implement community-driven evaluation of various models of clean-energy cook stoves in rural Haiti and to promote and distribute the most culturally and economically appropriate models. The project includes grassroots partners in rural Haiti and several U.S.-based organizations. A successful clean cook stove project would simultaneously address energy, environmental protection, climate, health and gender. To learn more about the partner organizations in this endeavor, please visit the link section on these pages. Why Haiti ? ”Haiti today, with less than 1.5% of vegetation cover, the question of the environment is a big problem for us all, and every year we are waiting to make massive intervention on the environment is one year of too much” Former Haiti Prime Minister Dr. Garry Conille, January 6, 2012 UNA-SNY has been interested in Haiti for several years. UNA-SNY YP dedicated 2009 to "The Haiti Expedition Project." This was an advocacy series highlighting the political, economical, social, and cultural nuances that make Haiti such a special place. Culminating with a field visit, members of THEP sustained the effort by providing immediate on the-ground emergency relief after the Earthquake, and by subsequently forming a non-profit organization, CDi - Community Development International. A number of YP members traveled to Haiti in November 2009 and after the January 2010 earthquake worked with other non-profits to raise funds for Haiti recovery. A member of the office of the representative of Haiti to the UN spoke to our board in 2010. Several Division Board Members have worked in Haiti in various capacities and, coincidentally, in the southeast of Haiti and the city of Jacmel. These individuals, their organizations and others have recently joined the "Innovative Haitian Solutions Commitee" - an advisory group to The Haiti Initiative by SocialTap. This coalition's coming together couldn't have been timelier. With much attention directed to clean energy now and in the years to come, individual efforts of organizational members will be scaled up and combined for maximum impact and efficiency by means of leveraging each others resources, reach, ground-presence, and expertise for the implementation of a clean cookstoves program. Some facts on forests: • Forests are home to 80% of our terrestrial biodiversity • The livelihoods of over 1.6 billion people depend on forests • Forests store more than 1 trillion tons of carbon • Deforestation accounts for 12 to 20 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming • Haiti has lost up to 99% of its forest cover • Cooking with charcoal accounts for ~70% of energy use in Haiti For images of the state of environmental affairs in the Haitian National Park La Visite, please view "Progress & Regress" at the bottom left, courtesy of CDi - Community Development International. Energy Poverty is a state of insufficient or non-existent access to clean and efficient energy sources to satisfy household and other domestic needs. In Haiti, as in many other developing countries, cooking is the single most energy-consuming activity, accounting for approximately 70% of all energy consumed. Most of the energy used for cooking is derived from traditional charcoal, rather than from alternative and more efficient sources. The use of charcoal creates a range of problems for human and environmental health:
Progress & Regress Slideshow of Park La Visite in Haiti
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