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 You are invited to participate in the upcoming

Summit on Black Carbon and Other Emissions from Residential Coal Heating Stoves and Combined Cooking + Heating Stoves

While many governments, especially in OECD nations have a long history of addressing wood heating stoves, much less information exists about coal heating stoves, or stoves that combine both heating and cooking functions.  To design effective mitigation options, the scope and use of these two stove categories needs far greater understanding than exists today.  More recent knowledge of the climate impacts of black carbon, and studies pointing to the importance of black and organic carbon for health impacts of wood and coal smoke, only sharpen the need to address this source.  By definition, a coal stove used for heating, or wood stove used for both cooking and heating is likely to be present close to the Arctic, Himalayas, Andes or other snow and ice (cryosphere) regions, where the black carbon emitted from such stoves will have a greater regional climate impact.

The Stoves Summit aims to address this gap, identifying what we know, and don’t know about:

– the extent of these stoves globally;

– their usage patterns (for heating or combined heating and cooking; and/or de facto lighting, pest control and other household needs);

– health impacts, including household and ambient air quality impacts;

– climate impacts;

– mitigation options and/or barriers to mitigation options such as fuel switching, more efficient usage, stove change-out subsidies etc.

Participation is sought from a broad range of stakeholders, from national and regional governments; stove producers; development, environment and climate experts and NGOs; and the research world; with the possibility of poster sessions.  Space is limited, so please register early and await confirmation prior to booking travel.  Limited travel support is also available.

More background on the Summit and its objectives is below!

OBJECTIVES OF THE SUMMIT

Enable scaled-up action to reduce short-lived climate pollutants from coal stoves and combined cooking and heating stoves by:

  • Characterizing the unique challenges posed by short-lived climate pollutant emissions from coal heating stoves and solid fuel (all kinds: wood, coal, peat, dung, etc.) combined use (cooking+heating) stoves.
  • Identifying the scale of the problem and key knowledge gaps;
  • Fostering connections among the related but separate communities of emissions, design, and policy experts working towards developing and disseminating cleaner burning heatstoves and cookstoves;
  • Sharing technological and policy options for reducing emissions;
  • Raising awareness through public communication on the conference and its outcomes;
  • Developing next steps to overcome key knowledge gaps and challenges.

WHY THIS SUMMIT?

Many households around the world use solid fuel burning for space heating, including woodstoves used for heating (primarily in OECD nations), coalstoves used for heating (primarily in Eastern Europe and some parts of Asia), and solid fuel-burning stoves used for both cooking and heating in developing countries. Previous assessments concluded that reducing short-lived climate pollutants from solid fuel stoves would have substantial climate and health co-benefits, but did not address the special case of stoves used for combined cooking+heating.  There is also a dearth of information on coal stoves used for heating, even though the coal stoves sector was one of the original “measures” in the UNEP/WMO Assessment of 2011.

Heatstoves, and combined heating and cooking stoves have the same health impacts as cooking-only stoves, but likely have a greater per-unit climate impact since they tend to be used near glaciated or snow-covered mountain regions, where deposited black carbon greatly magnifies the climate impact. They also present a special challenge, as stoves that effectively concentrate heat for efficient cooking could lose their ability to heat a house by eliminating “wasted” ambient heat.

The “Stoves Summit” will synthesize the evidence base concerning combined heating+cooking stoves and coal heat stoves, foster sharing of experiences and lessons learned between the solid fuel cookstove and heatstoves communities, and raise awareness about the issue and potential solutions among a diverse set of stakeholders. The meeting will highlight the extent of combined use solid fuel stoves and coal heating stoves in different parts of the world; their impacts on health, the climate, and the cryosphere; and potential solutions for mitigating their emissions and harmful effects.

Key challenges and needs discussed at the Summit will be highlighted in a meeting synthesis report, which can then serve as the basis for scaled up action on coal stoves and combined use stoves, through both the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), the Global Alliance for Clean Cooking (GACC) as well as through broader-scale action among donors and multilateral development banks.

WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE?

The Summit will include technical sessions as well as sessions geared towards policy, market and technological solutions. Hence, participants are expected to have a range of backgrounds and expertise. Organizations and individuals working on issues related to household solid fuel combustion, including governments, stove and fuel producers, non-governmental organizations, and scientists, are expected to participate. Approximately 50-100 participants are expected to attend in person; there may also be the opportunity for virtual participation.

EXPECTED OUTPUT

The main output from the Summit will be a Synthesis Report summarizing the discussions that took place and highlighting the key gaps and next steps needed to move towards scaled up emissions mitigation from this sector; and for the longer-term, also the linkages and cooperation established between members of the sometimes-separate heating and cooking stove communities.