Global Warming: Women Task Kaduna Government on Energy Efficient Cooking Stove
By Alex Uangbaoje, Kaduna
As part of measures to reduce and eradicate global warming and emissions in the society, women in Kaduna State has called on the state government to make energy efficient cooking stove available to reduce the use of firewood in order to preserve forest.
The Women, under the auspice of Small-scall Women Farmers Organization (SWOFON), noted that, “traditional cook stoves are incredibly inefficient, wasting 90% of the energy generated and requiring up to one-third of a family’s income for fuel. It is also hazardous to the environment, causing 25% of the world’s global black-carbon emissions.”
Mrs Hannatu Soni, President, SWOFON Kaduna Chapter, who said this at a the ‘climate change women talk’, revealed that the smoke and other toxic fumes that result from cooking known as Household Air Pollution are estimated to cause or directly contribute to 3.8 million deaths per year which is more than HIV, malaria and tuberculosis combined.
According to her, “it has also been estimated that the number of people who cook with biomass is expected to grow as global population increases, reaching 3.24 billion by 2025.
“Findings shows that nearly three billion people worldwide live in energy poverty, lacking access to clean energy technologies, and cook their meals over open flames with biomass fuels such as charcoal and wood.
“We are all aware that one of the effects of climate change is global warming and CO2 emissions contributes largely to global warming therefore there is a need for CO2 emissions reductions from household cookstove use.
“We are calling on Kaduna State government to put citizens especially women first in addressing climate change impacts and also support women in building an environmental friendly practice that will address climate change impacts.
“The under developed and poor countries are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change compared to other countries while women are the most vulnerable because of their traditional roles in the home.”
She said the reason the are demanding for action, is to; eliminate dependency on natural resources like forest resources, better and healthy environment, save Africa and the World, secure the future especially for the future generation and engender food security.
“We are raising our voices because we do not want our children to look at us in the face and put the blame on us that we knew and had opportunity to fight climate change and we did nothing about it.
“The good news is there are ways we can mitigate the impacts of climate change especially on women by using Energy Efficient cook stove which will reduce smoke and toxic emissions by up to 80% and reduce fuel consumption by an average of 60%, which corresponds to a reduction of between 2-3 tons of CO2 equivalent per year.
We are demanding that the Government support women with Energy Efficient cook stove by making it readily available to women especially those in rural communities at affordable cost.
“A flexible payment plan can be drawn up or the stoves can be given to the women for free. These rural women do not have the financial capacity to purchase the energy efficient cook stoves. By sustainably growing markets and increasing access to clean energy technology, carbon credit offsetting positively impacts the lives of millions, and helps future generations benefit from this access as well.
“If women can have an use the Energy efficient cook stove, it can deliver both climate and sustainable development impacts that transcend most standard CO2 emissions reductions.
“Our advocacy is for a pathway that will provide solution in mitigating climate change and from destructing our environment. The time for clean energy is now. The time for Eco-friendly and sustainable practices is now.
“We salute all women today because of our consciousness and determination to free ourselves from the claws of climate change in order to protect our environment for the present and future generation.
The “climate change women talk” was facilitated by Bridge that Gap Initiative and supported by Africa Media Development Foundation (AMDF).
