German Ambassador to Kenya Supporting The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

If you have followed the Global Alliance to Clean Cookstoves you might know that some of its supporters include: Julia Roberts, Wanjira Maathai, Hillary Clinton and many others. This week was the annual conference that was held in Nairobi.

There were many high profile guests who all backed the idea and in turn promised their support. The German Embassy issued a statement mentioning that they would continue supporting the initiative as  part of their health and climate engagement portfolio. Ambassador Andreas Peschke acknowledged the importance of sustainable cooking energy and its impacts on health, climate issues and the economy. Therefore, he promised to continue endorsing the Global Alliance which the German government has already supported with an additional 1 Million Euro in 2013

According to the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, close to three billion people still use traditional stoves for cooking and heating their homes.  Of that number, four million people die annually due to complications brought about by using the traditional stoves.

You can learn more about the Alliance, their activities and how you can get involved on their website: http://www.cleancookstoves.org/

Below the Ambassador’s speech at the event, courtesy of the German Embassy Nairobi:

Madam Chair,
Kathy Calvin,
Wanjira Maathai,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for organizing the meeting of the Advisory Council in Nairobi.

Asante sana kwa kutukaribisha.

As Ambassador of Germany to Kenya, I would like to convey to you warm greetings from my Government. In particular, I would like to convey greetings from our new Minister for
Development Cooperation Gerd Müller who cannot be here today but who is following the proceedings of today’s meeting quite closely.

For Germany, the issue of sustainable cooking energy remains important. We are well aware of the importance of household energy and its impacts on health, climate issues and the economy in particular. Therefore, Germany will continue to support the Global Alliance for Clean Cooking Stoves.

In 2013, we have committed an additional 1 million Euro to the work of the Alliance.

Looking ahead, we recommend to place even greater emphasis on local value chain promotion and to evaluate the current outreach of the Global Alliance to small and medium size local businesses.

The agenda ahead of us is full, the challenges are enormous. Germany will continue to make its experience available to the goals of the Global Alliance.

Thank you very much. Asanteni sana.