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RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 2029
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
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RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GENEVA 000349 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT pass to USTR for DShackleford 
USDOC for LCosta 
STATE for OES/STAS for AReynolds, EAP for WBehn, IO/EDA for 
AHaviland 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD TRGY EAID
SUBJECT:  Mitigating Indoor Air Pollution - Geneva Connections 
 
¶1.  (U) This is an action request. See para 13. 
 
¶2.  (U) SUMMARY: On April 15 the US Mission Geneva held a luncheon 
to encourage parties in Geneva to work on mitigating indoor air 
pollution and coordinate their efforts, and to brainstorm with 
delegates from affected countries about solutions.  This meeting was 
attended by representatives from the UN Conference on Trade and 
Development (UNCTAD), the World Health Organization (WHO), the 
African Group (Algeria, Angola, Cote d'Ivoire), Bangladesh for the 
LDC Group, Norway as a potential donor, Philips Consumer 
Electronics, and U.S. Mission employees.  Along with presentations 
by UNCTAD and WHO, the Philips representative demonstrated of an 
efficient wood fuel cook stove the company is developing for the 
Indian market.  END SUMMARY 
 
The Problem 
----------- 
 
¶3.  (U) Indoor air pollution results in 1.6 million deaths yearly, 
primarily due to pneumonia, chronic respiratory disease and lung 
cancer.  Women and children are particularly affected by indoor air 
pollution since they are generally responsible for the cooking and 
spend time inside maintaining the home.  59 percent of all indoor 
air pollution-attributable deaths are females, and 56 percent occur 
in children under five years of age. 
 
¶4.  (U) Philips Consumer Electronics demonstrated a high efficiency 
stove that they have recently developed to combat the problem of 
indoor air pollution in India.  (Note: Philips will also present its 
stove to the UNCTAD Trade and Development Commission at its meeting 
on May 11-15.  Mission Officer introduced the Philips stove as one 
of many solutions to the problem of mitigating indoor air pollution 
and stated that the Mission did not endorse this stove or any other 
product, but appreciated the opportunity to see a demonstration of 
an actual product being developed to address the problem of indoor 
air pollution.) 
 
Need for awareness building 
--------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) A lively discussion followed presentations from WHO and 
Philips.  Most striking was the defensive posture of African 
colleagues (Algeria, Angola, Cote d'Ivoire) who were initially 
concerned that first world interest in efficient cook stoves was an 
attempt to blame African countries for climate change through wood 
smoke emissions (Note: the lunch was held the day prior to news 
articles on black carbon pollution).  We assured the African 
delegates that this was not a climate change issue, and framed it as 
a health issue with ramifications for education, deforestation and 
watershed management.  Nonetheless, the Africans remained skeptical 
about the extent of this problem in their particular region and 
about the mitigating effects on women and children.  Mission will 
assist the WHO in holding further small informational sessions to 
discuss and present statistics to those countries greatly affected 
by indoor air pollution, so their Geneva delegates become supportive 
of efforts to resolve the problem. 
 
Need for standard assessments to measure new technologies 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Carlos Dora, Coordinator Public Health and Environment 
Department at the WHO, described illness and deaths from indoor air 
pollution as one of the major health hazards facing developing 
countries and as extremely difficult to tackle due to its 
multifaceted nature.  He said there has been enough science studying 
the problem over the past decade so we accurately know its locations 
and dimension.  However, there has not been enough science devoted 
to solutions.  According to Dora, there are many solutions to indoor 
air pollution in the form of improved stoves, but no standard 
assessments to understand what each technology offers, to compare 
the alternatives and to determine which work best under which 
circumstances.  Dora said all technology solutions should be 
measured using a common yard stick.  He added worldwide, there is 
only one randomized controlled study of an improved stove and that 
is now ongoing in Guatemala. 
 
GENEVA 00000349  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
Challenges to making stoves a viable business 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) The Philips representative confirmed that standards for 
improved cook stoves don't exist yet.  Philips is trying to develop 
standards with an NGO and other stove producers, but this research 
unfortunately raises the costs of Philips' already expensive stoves. 
 Dora and Philips agreed to continue discussion on standards for 
testing stoves. 
 
¶8.  (U) Philips outlined the following challenges to development and 
commercial sale of improved cook stoves, and actions governments 
could take to promote the use of improved stoves: 
a. Lack of awareness of the problem among consumers. This means 
marketing dollars are needed to educate consumers on the dangers of 
indoor air pollution from traditional cooking methods, so consumers 
are interested in purchasing improved stoves. Alternatively, states 
and NGOs could educate consumers, which would avoid stove producers 
having to roll large marketing costs into the price of their 
stoves. 
b. Subsidize consumer acquisition.  The Philips stove costs 60 euros 
for a model that needs to have its battery recharged weekly and 80 
euros for a solar powered stove.  These prices are prohibitive to 
billions of people.  Philips is trying to reduce the cost of its 
stove, but has difficulty doing so when at the same time it is 
trying to make a safe, durable, easy to use product that cooks 
quickly.  Therefore, Philips hopes to find donors who will subsidize 
stove purchases. 
c. Facilitate access to consumers and acquisition.  Philips does not 
have its own rural distribution network.  Creating a distribution 
network would make the stoves even more expensive and less viable. 
Therefore, Philips asked whether governments could provide the 
distribution network. Philips said they tried using NGOs to sell 
stoves in rural areas in India but the experience showed that NGOs 
are not suited for such a commercial activity. 
d. Facilitate multi-stake holder dialogues to help companies reach 
potential partners. 
e. Decrease duties and taxes on improved stoves. 
f. Support development costs of improved stoves. 
g. Allow carbon credits for use of improved stoves. 
 
Some Successes in Bangladesh 
---------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) The Bangladesh delegate pointed to Bangladesh's experience 
with Grameen Shakti  (www.gshakti.org) providing micro-credit to 
families to purchase solar power for their homes as a solution that 
addresses not only the need for clean cooking methods but provides 
electricity to the family for lights and appliances and dramatically 
improves living standards.  The Bangladesh delegate said governments 
and NGOs should run awareness campaigns to alert consumers of the 
dangers of indoor air pollution.  Whatever technical solutions are 
decided upon, the products should be manufactured locally with 
easily repairable and replaceable parts. 
 
UNCTAD's role 
------------- 
 
¶10.  (U) The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is the 
focal point for the UN system on trade and development and the 
inter-related issues of technology, sustainable development, 
investment and finance.  As such it has the power to convene 
meetings that involve all stakeholders on these issues and therefore 
could be a useful forum to bring together those working on indoor 
air pollution and market based solutions.  UNCTAD would like to 
address this issue in the broader context of providing rural energy 
and was enthusiastic about the potential to replicate the Bangladesh 
solar energy alternative in other countries.  However, WHO Dora 
cautioned that despite the clear development benefits of 
electrifying rural areas, most people in developing countries do not 
choose to cook with electric power.  (Dora did not clarify whether 
this was due to the lack of electricity or a cultural preference.) 
 
¶11.  (U) WHO Dora welcomed and encouraged UNCTAD's involvement in 
 
GENEVA 00000349  003 OF 003 
 
 
bringing trade and investment solutions to bear on the problem of 
indoor air pollution. He said an obstacle to effectively addressing 
the problem has been the need to have trade, development, and 
environment ministries as well as health ministries and the private 
sector all coordinate their efforts towards a solution.  UNCTAD 
staff from the Investment Division will explore using the UNCTAD 
EMPRETEC network of business centers in 26 countries, including much 
of Africa, as a potential avenue for developing a reliable low cost 
distribution network for improved stoves. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) The luncheon meeting at the Mission captured many of the 
challenges to effectively resolving the problem of indoor air 
pollution. The Indians and Bangladeshis are clearly aware of the 
problem and actively working to resolve it.  By contrast, Geneva 
delegates from the African countries were skeptical as to whether a 
problem really exists in their countries and how much attention 
resolving it deserves compared to other development challenges. 
Mission officers will continue to work with WHO to raise awareness 
among delegates from affected African countries and with UNCTAD and 
WHO to bring stakeholders together to brainstorm regarding the 
problem. 
 
¶13.  (U) Mission requests the Department invite action addressees to 
informally share information on indoor air pollution awareness 
campaigns, or on clean cook stove initiatives, taking place in their 
host countries.  Please send comments to Lowam@state.gov and 
Brodeylx@state.gov. 
 
STORELLA #