We were very pleased to receive this morning a letter from the United Nations Environment Programme that recognizes the unsustainable nature of current levels of charcoal production and consumption in sub-Saharan Africa, and the threat this poses to the progress on the MDGs.
The letter, signed by Mr. Mounkaila Goumandakoye, Director and Regional Representative of UNEP in Africa, also expresses the agency’s support for The Charcoal Project’s effort to organize the first International Conference on Charcoal, scheduled to take place in the first half of 2012 in Africa.
Although we regret UNEP’s Executive Director, Achim Steiner, will not be able to join us, we are nonetheless hopeful that the agency’s endorsement will inspire other private and public sector institutions to join us in our effort to map out sustainable, economically sound policies and recommendations for the use of charcoal as an important renewable fuel for domestic and commercial consumption in the developing world.
To find out how your organization can participate, please visit charcoal2012.org
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