Sumeet Saksena: JOHANNESBURG SUMMIT MUST FUEL ACTION ON HOUSEHOLD POLLUTION

Date: 08-22-2002

HONOLULU -- A new U.N. report on the vast blanket of air pollution covering much of Asia underlines the need for more efficient cooking stoves and cleaner household fuels to reduce major health risks, said an East-West Center specialist on environmental health.

A study by the U.N. Environment Program released this week is one of the first major reports to stress the importance of both outdoor and indoor sources of pollution that are fueling the Asian Brown Cloud, said Sumeet Saksena. Indoor pollutants include emissions from inefficient cook stoves burning wood, cow dung and other biofuels.

"The burning of solid fuels in the home is a major contributor to ill health in the region," said Saksena, currently in India studying cook-stove pollution.

The World Health Organization recently estimated that indoor air pollution may be responsible for as many as 2.8 million deaths each year, making it one of the largest environmental risk factors of any kind, Saksena said. Such pollution can lead to lung damage and weakening of the body's defenses.

The U.N. report comes on the eve of next week's World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. While earlier international forums have given some attention to indoor pollution, Saksena hopes this summit will convince nations that they must take urgent action.

Saksena said governments need to help provide stoves that remove smoke from homes through a flue or chimney. In the past 20 years, hundreds of improved stove programs implemented in developing nations have shown that a better stove can reduce indoor air pollutants caused by cooking from 10 percent to 40 percent compared to kitchens with open fires.

This could be an interim solution while governments promote safer and more efficient cooking fuels such as kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas and electricity. However, "this transition to cleaner fuels may be impeded by the scale of poverty and the number of people who rely on biomass fuels," Saksena said.

Even in East Asia with its rapid economic growth, biomass fuels still account for a third of all energy supplies, and that's expected to decrease by only 50 percent over the next 15-25 years.

But national governments can help facilitate the transition to cleaner household fuels with policies that reduce the upfront costs of buying new appliances and obtaining electricity, and through innovative credit and longer pay-back periods. International agencies should provide funding to kick-start such programs.

"There is a dire need to develop tools that can help decision makers at all levels find cost-effective solutions to improving public health. Experience shows that effective management needs collaboration between scientists and policy makers."

Sumeet Saksena can be reached at 808-944-7249 or saksenas@eastwestcenter.or

This is an East-West Wire, copyright East-West Center