full transcript:

from unclean air hovering over cities to unhealthy smoke in homes, air pollution continues to put human health and climate on the line. cameroon, popularly referred to as africa in miniature, is reputed for its geographical and cultural diversity, especially when it comes to traditional meals. for most cameroonians, the three stone fireside method of cooking transcends just making food. it speaks to generational cultures and bonds built over moonlight folklore and folktales of their shared history.

but, for the longest time, the process of preparing these meals has been largely powered by biomass fuels, made possible by the cutting down of trees. the health challenges associated with exposure to these cooking methods cannot be undermined as about 3.2 million worldwide deaths in 2020 were attributed to household air pollution, according to the world health organization. despite these health consequences, most people across sub-saharan africa still cannot afford clean cooking technologies.

aisata ibamie is a young renewable energy engineer, innovative clean energy activist, and a mandela washington fellow (mwf) from logone, a charey village in the far north region of cameroon, and she has had first-hand experience with the challenges of cooking in the country. (in full disclosure, mwf is where this author first met ibamie.) growing up in a rural community, fetching firewood for cooking was one of her least favorite chores –– a routine she shares with more than 70% of cameroonians who still do not have access to clean cooking technologies, as revealed by the world bank. 

driven by curiosity, ibamie’s rare passion and determination to change this narrative for cameroonians led to her creation of an energy efficient and affordable cooker: a cordless, portable, and non-electric bag made from cotton. ibamie hopes the asaab thermal cooker will go a long way to reduce deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions.

“if i want to cook red beans for example, it often takes us two to three hours with firewood or gas. with the thermal cooker, you need just 15 minutes of gas or firewood to boil it, take it off and place in the asaab thermal cooker and close. after 3 hours, it is ready. rice is just 25 minutes on the cooker after heating on any classical fire for 3 minutes. you can leave the food in the cooker for up to 10 hours and it will still be hot when you get back. our customers testify that they are preparing red beans, meat, and others. this is a way for the woman to be free. we have natural and artificial carbon footprints. using the asaab thermal cooker reduces co2.”

the tragic and avoidable chronic illnesses from unhealthy cookstoves continue to put women and girls at the most vulnerable positions as they often stand at the frontline of gathering fuels and preparing meals. to ibamie, providing the thermal cooker solution will not only save lives and the climate, but go a long way to address gender inequalities and promote girl child education in cameroon. 

“one of the motivations for the asaab thermal cooker is that i come from the far north region of cameroon, where women are often marginalized. so they don’t really go to school as they are are expected to take care of the family and not supposed to be educated in school. every time they are cooking — for up to three times per day. always cooking, so they don’t have to go anywhere because they are controlling food. for me, it was a way to give them a chance to take care of the family and also go to school, do business, or go on vacation if they want to. in fact, to be free of always going to the kitchen every time.”

a recent research publication in the pan african medical journal found that indoor pollution already kills about 7,000 people in cameroon annually. considering the numerous kitchen accidents recorded from cooking appliances, ibamie designed the asaab thermal cooker with user-safety in mind.

“i was thinking about safety. i wanted something light that customers would not need too much (experience) to use. the asaab thermal cooker is very safe to use as you don’t have to plug into current or put in the sun before using. it is very simple to use. even your children can come back from school, open it, and serve themselves easily — unlike gas, where you maybe worried that they are exposed to fire, which is very dangerous for the household.”

as the number of internally displaced women and girls continue to rise in cameroon due to security concerns such as the ongoing anglophone crisis in the northwest and southwest regions, and the boko haram insurgency in the northern regions of the country, ibamie believes the thermal cooker could not be more timely.

“the cooker is a blessing for displaced women because they are never stable. they are always moving from one place to another, so it is easy to handle. it is very light. it is less than three kilograms (approximately 6.5 pounds) and you can pack it in a handbag and you go anywhere you want to go with. i can say it is very practical.”

as an emerging young african leader, participating in the 2022 mandela washington fellowship at the university of reno, nevada, served as an opportunity to scale her business by expanding to new markets.

“i met fellows that i can work together with, in the same areas like cooking and climate change and thermal energy efficiency. so yes, i really met people and made customers who brought me other customers, so i have to ship asaab thermal cookers to the u.s.”

by helping to reduce the cutting of trees, ibamie is contributing to one of the focal points of the united nations environmental program (unep), which is to achieve a significant reduction in deforestation while boosting agricultural productivity. it also aligns nicely with one of the resolutions of the climate pact during the 26th edition of the united nations conference of parties in glasgow (cop26 glasgow climate pact), which hammered on the protection, conservation, and restoration of natural ecosystems such as forests.

according to project drawdown, if global adoption of clean cookstoves grows to 16% by 2050, 15.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced. as the world prepares to unite for the 27th u.n. conference in egypt to reflect on the progress with pledges and commitments to accelerate global actions in the climate fight, ibamie hopes that access to clean cooking will give climate delegates food for thought.

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[editor’s note: this transcript was edited for clarity.]

when the world went on lockdown, nature got a reprieve, or so it seemed. dolphins swam in the hudson river, los angeles’ famed smog dissipated, and wild animals were reportedly reclaiming cities. the narrative presented in the media was clear: the covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 allowed nature and the environment a temporary reprieve. but how much did lockdown really impact air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions? and did animals actually move back into cities?

a year later, researchers around the world are examining data from the lockdowns and publishing their findings. did the natural world really make a brief comeback during lockdown? the answer is complicated.

“the pandemic is bad. it’s causing a lot of troubles for humankind,” said phil yang, a geospatial scientist and professor of geographic information science at george mason university. “but on the other side, this experiment is helping us to be able to observe how human activities have been impacting the earth, the environment and climate change.”

air pollution and lockdowns

for his part, yang looked at air quality in california before covid-19 and during lockdowns, publishing his results in the journal science of the total environment.

he and his multidisciplinary team at george mason university studied concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide (both of which are indirect greenhouse gases) and particulate matter, during the initial california covid-19 lockdown that lasted nearly three months, from march 19 to may 7.

the researchers found that both nitrogen dioxide (no2) and carbon monoxide (co) concentrations dropped significantly during the initial covid-19 lockdown, when compared to the same period for the five years prior. particulate matter initially dropped as well, before increasing significantly toward the end of the study due to california’s historic 2020 wildfires.

during the lockdown that ran from march 19 to may 7, 2020, co concentrations dropped by 49% compared to the three months before lockdown, while no2 concentrations dropped by 38%.

in previous years, concentrations of both co and no2 have dropped during the same period as covered in yang’s study due to seasonal changes, by an average of 24% and 22%, respectively. but the drops during the lockdown were much sharper.

globally, direct greenhouse gas emissions also declined. carbon dioxide (co2) emissions dropped by 2.4 billion metric tons, or down 7% from 2019, according to a study published in earth system science data in december 2020. this represents the biggest annual drop in co2 emissions ever recorded in modern times.

yang said he doesn’t believe this short-term drop in greenhouse gas emissions will contribute toward solving climate change in the long term. however, it has given scientists a new way to confirm something already known: that human activity is causing climate change.

lockdowns proved that when human activity tapered off, so did greenhouse gas emissions. from a research perspective, it wouldn’t have been feasible to ask an entire state, let alone the world, to enter lockdown for more than two months. but the onset of the covid-19 pandemic presented a unique situation.

“we cannot do this type of experiment without the pandemic,” yang said.

animals run wild

reut vardi, a doctoral student pursuing a degree in urbanization at ben-gurion university of the negev in israel, also took the unique opportunity presented by lockdowns to study the absence of human activity.

in her 2021 study in biological conservation, she tested the claim that animals reclaimed cities during lockdown. in contrast with the media’s narrative in the early months of the pandemic, vardi found little evidence of animals invading cities.

“we do have nature in our cities … but suddenly covid has seemed to shine a spotlight on it because people have more time,” vardi said.

she said she suspects that with more free time during lockdowns, people were simply noticing already existing wildlife populations for the first time.

vardi used data from inaturalist, a nature spotting and reporting app, to compare animal sighting data pre-covid-19 and during the initial lockdowns in north america, from march to july of 2020.

vardi tracked reported sightings of black bears (ursus americanus), bobcats (lynx rufus), coyotes (canis latrans), moose (alces alces) and pumas (puma concolor), to determine if these animals were actually moving out of their existing habitats and reclaiming urbanized areas seemingly abandoned by humans.

vardi and her team indeed found that these animals were exploring new areas during lockdowns — but not in the way portrayed in early news stories. using night light as a proxy for urbanization, vardi found that the animals were actually venturing out in more rural areas.

“for four out the five species, the new area they were exploring, reported during covid, were actually in less urbanized areas. and for the most urbanized area [where] they were seen during covid, they were also reported to be seen there before covid as well,” vardi said.

the only animal that increased its exploration of urban areas was the puma, which vardi attributes to the cat’s shy nature. because pumas are usually very wary of humans, the lack of human activity may have encouraged them to explore deeper into urbanized areas at a greater rate than other wildlife.

“it’s more complex than what the media is trying to say. it’s not, we go in so the animals come out to play. nature is all over the city and we do need to notice,” vardi said. “i think the great thing covid did was to … help us understand that we need to manage this situation and design our cities in a better way, that can allow for coexistence.”

the environment post-covid

so while lockdown helped tamp down emissions, they didn’t move the needle on wildlife as much as reported. what, then, was the total impact on the environment? a team of scientists in india has weighed the potential positive and negative impacts of covid-19 in a study in environmental sustainability.

due to lockdowns, the researchers recorded that people were making more online purchases and food delivery orders. as a result, demand for plastic packaging materials increased significantly. for example, one plastic packaging company in spain saw sales grow by 40% during the pandemic, while in the u.s. the demand for plastic grocery packaging was expected to rise by 14%.

the study also raised the concerns over medical equipment disposal, reporting that at one point, the city of wuhan, ground zero of the outbreak, was producing an extra 240 tons of medical waste per day. compounding the issue is the fact that personal protective equipment (ppe) is commonly made of single-use plastic, potentially leading to a rise in plastic pollution.

another potential hazard, detailed in the paper, is the rise in soap use. if released into streams, rivers or lakes, soap creates a layer of foam on the water. the foam stops vital re-aeration for aquatic plants by 40% and prevents algae growth that’s vital to local ecosystems.

“although a few positive impacts of covid-19 on the environment were seen, these were the short-term effects induced largely by nation-wide lockdown,” the study says. “indeed, the pandemic is expected to pose long-term adverse effects on the environment in future.”

nevertheless, a number of conservationists say the covid-19 pandemic holds lessons for society.

“covid-19 came from an animal, in large part because of humans’ destruction to ecosystems,” said rachel golden kroner, an environmental governance fellow at conservation international. “situating humans as part of nature helps us think more holistically about our impacts.”

kroner said she noticed increased conservation efforts and interest from the public, the private sector and the government during this period.

“[people need to] keep that going, but in real ways. follow up this commitment with real actions,” she added.

she said a lot of this action comes down to passing legislation and increasing environmental funding, which in both cases the average person may feel they have little capacity to change.

“it’s that dichotomy, maybe a false dichotomy, about individual versus collective solutions,” kroner said. “as an individual, we can tap into making change at the collective level. we are all voters, we are all citizens, we all have representatives that we can elect, advocate to, call, write letters and make our voices heard. make it known that we care.”

beyond this, kroner suggested something less formal: simply talking to friends and family about climate change, threats to our environment, and ways they can reduce their impact and get involved.

citations:

friedlingstein, p., o’sullivan, m., jones, m. w., andrew, r. m., hauck, j., olsen, a., … zaehle, s. (2020). global carbon budget 2020. earth system science data, 12(4), 3269-3340. doi:10.5194/essd-12-3269-2020

ankit, kumar, a., jain, v., deovanshi, a., lepcha, a., das, c., … srivastava, s. (2021). environmental impact of covid-19 pandemic: more negatives than positives. environmental sustainability. doi:10.1007/s42398-021-00159-9

liu, q., harris, j. t., chiu, l. s., sun, d., houser, p. r., yu, m., … yang, c. (2021). spatiotemporal impacts of covid-19 on air pollution in california, usa. science of the total environment, 750, 141592. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141592

vardi, r., berger-tal, o., & roll, u. (2021). inaturalist insights illuminate covid-19 effects on large mammals in urban centers. biological conservation, 254, 108953. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.108953

• what is the cop26 draft text — and what does it mean? this article explains how this starting document was drafted by the uk presidency and reflects what has been shared in glasgow over cop26. next, each delegation consulted with their country’s leadership and proposed revisions. 

• the new draft of the cop26 agreement was released early friday. will all 197 parties sign it, following these revisions? this cnn analysis says it includes “unprecedented language” around fossil fuels, despite pressure from the coal, oil, and gas industries, but it essentially defers more action on emissions until cop27. 

• together, china and u.s. say they’ll “enhance” climate action. the countries, the two largest climate polluters, vowed to do more to cut greenhouse gases in a joint “glasgow declaration” that commits beijing to addressing its methane emissions. 

• how can we measure success at cop? why can’t the cop swoop in and save us? so how do we critically reflect on what the conference can do for us while acknowledging its shortcomings — and not giving up hope?

thanks for following us during this series! you can see planet forward’s other cop26-related coverage in the road to cop26 and climate hits home. 

• here’s what happened so far at cop26, and what lies ahead. tune in to this 4-minute listen from npr’s dan charles to check in with the conference’s progress, published at the halfway mark of cop26.

• the cheap and easy climate fix that can cool the planet fast. at cop26, more than 100 countries signed the new global methane pledge with the goal of cutting 30% of their methane emissions by 2030. but why are methane emissions so harmful, and how big is the problem? what fixes could be done to reduce their effects? this article answers all your questions with easy scientific explanations and interactive graphs.

• 16 companies that are rethinking packaging. today at cop26, unilever is holding a panel on sustainable business practices, from biodegradable material in packaging to responsible business practices that respect natural ecosystems and reduce waste. food tank highlights 16 food and beverage companies to exhibit the industry’s various approaches to sustainable packaging.

check back tomorrow for more info on what is being explored at cop26 — and good reads to keep you informed!

• cop26 goals, straight from the event’s website: what do we need to achieve at cop26?

• 10 charts explaining the economic benefits of climate change mitigation in the u.s. as leaders discuss environmental policy, learn more about how advancing climate policy will help our country economically. file some facts away to teach others who are more economically motivated during conversations about sustainability!

• what is ‘net zero’ and why does it matter? find out what net zero means and the current scientific conversations surrounding it.

• feminism and environmentalism go hand in hand. look back at this commentary from gender day at the global climate talks in 2018 to learn more about how feminism and environmentalism intertwine.

check back tomorrow for more info on what is being explored at cop26 — and good reads to keep you informed!

walking through stockholm in the early evening, it is nearly impossible to avoid the herds of bikes that come barreling down the roads, traveling in swift fleets each weeknight. rush hour in this city is in stark contrast to rush hour in other cities such as new york and los angeles, as cars drift easily down the street, obstructed by bikers and pedestrians instead of by thousands of other cars. this can be attributed to a multitude of factors, such as sweden’s effective public transportation, swedes’ preference for biking as a more active mode of transportation, or the cost-effective nature of avoiding car ownership. one common goal, however, unites swedes in their quest to avoid fossil fuel-powered vehicles: the desire to diminish carbon emissions. in fact, stockholm plans to be fossil fuel free by 2040.

this goal comes with strong motivation, as reuters reports that in 2018 humans added 33.1 billion tons of carbon into the air, 14% of which came from transportation according to the epa. carbon emissions are responsible for 64% of global climate change, the european commission reports, as they contribute to the greenhouse effect which warms the planet. this means that decreasing the amount of fossil fuels that we burn each year could have an immensely positive impact on the global climate crisis.

stockholm is on track to achieve a maximum of 2.3 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents emitted per resident in 2020, according to a strategy report prepared by the city. reports from the world bank show that in 2016 — the most recent year available — the u.s. produced 15.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per capita, while all of sweden was at just 4.4 tons.

my classmates and i were first introduced to stockholm’s plan to become fossil fuel free by our guide, zennid, on a walking tour around the city. he outlined how the metro system in stockholm is electric and how the public buses run on biofuels. additionally, most car owners power their vehicles with electricity or biofuels. one challenge that he identified was making this work for tourism, as large tour buses and cruise ships that bring people to stockholm are still powered by fossil fuels.

the determination of the swedes to reduce their fossil fuel emissions was tangible in the amount of people biking, walking, and taking the train around the city. i was shocked when another tour guide who showed us around a sustainable living development at the royal seaport told me that she refuses to travel in vehicles powered by fossil fuels. i was shocked by this statement, as completely avoiding fossil fuels has never been something that i could even dream of achieving. to get to the grocery store, school, or the train station from my home in rhode island, it is necessary to drive. this could still be fossil fuel-free with the use of an electric or biofuel-powered vehicle, but the lack of affordable and versatile versions of these cars on the market in the u.s. has left my family with classic gas-guzzling american cars.

so this leaves me with the question: is there a future in which americans can avoid fossil fuels as our tour guide could in stockholm?

electric cars

of course, electric and hybrid vehicles have already reached the u.s., the toyota prius and the tesla model 3 being two prominent varieties. while people can charge these cars at home, charging stations in parking spaces have become noticeably popular in sweden, and their implementation in the u.s. could convince more consumers to go electric. a challenge in implementing electric car culture in the u.s. seems to be the looks of electric cars, as most models, such as the toyota prius and the bmw i3, are smaller, less american looking cars. getting over our obsession with large pickup trucks and suvs may be a major hurdle in this transition. even i have trouble with the idea of my family having only small cars, as american road trip culture gives us the ideal of driving down country roads from state to state in a big comfortable car.

biofuel cars

i had always heard that biofuel technology was not efficient, so i was shocked when i heard about its popularity in stockholm. it turns out that biofuel is less expensive than typical fuel in sweden, as diesel costs 16.08 swedish krona per liter — or $1.83 a liter, as of publication time, which is the equivalent of about $7 per gallon. and biodiesel for a truck costs 14.24 krona ($1.62) per liter.

biodiesel, a popular form of biofuel, is made of hydrogenated vegetable oil (hvo), which according to one hvo company is compatible with all diesel engines and “does not release any new carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.” a study published by the proceedings of the national academy of sciences in the u.s. found that “biodiesel yields 93% more” energy than the energy used to manufacture the fuel. moreover, the study found that biofuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 41% when replacing fossil fuels. consumer reports found that using biodiesel works just as well as fossil fuels, but the lack of access to this type of fuel in the u.s. makes it unsuitable for everyday use.

ethanol is another type of biofuel, usually made from corn, that “yields 25% more energy than the energy invested in its production” and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 12%, according to the national academy of sciences report. in the u.s., a mixture of 90% gasoline and 10% ethanol is usually used to fuel cars. the u.s. is the world’s top ethanol producer, but as national geographic reports, this fuel is controversial because of the amount of energy necessary for its manufacture.

next steps for the u.s.

overall, stockholm’s fossil fuel free ambitions were noticeable and inspirational. the government and the residents of stockholm are both taking prominent roles in reducing carbon emissions, and i left stockholm with a new understanding of sustainable transportation. i think that the first step to freeing ourselves from fossil-fuel powered transportation is to make the alternatives more accessible. if we can make these alternatives normal, hopefully their economic and environmental advantages will encourage americans to follow in the footsteps of the swedes.

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sources:

https://climatechange.ucdavis.edu/news/can-seaweed-cut-methane-emissions-on-dairy-farms/

https://caes.ucdavis.edu/news/articles/2018/may/can-seaweed-cut-methane-emissions-on-dairies

http://www.fao.org/in-action/enteric-methane/background/en/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/forests-of-seaweed-can-help-climate-change-without-fire/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/food/the-plate/2016/11/seaweed-may-be-the-solution-for-burping-cows/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-bad-of-a-greenhouse-gas-is-methane/

the latest to join the fight against the climate crisis is the washington, d.c., suburb of arlington county, virginia, which recently announced their plans to have net-zero emissions and become carbon neutral by 2050.

despite arlington county’s recent announcement, they have been working for more than a decade now to become more eco-friendly. according to adam segel-moss, the county’s energy outreach specialist for the leadership in environmental and energy design, the process started in 2007 by cutting greenhouse gas emissions by a sizeable amount.

“to date, the county has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 24% from 2007-2017,” segel-moss said.

he explained how arlington county plans to build on its previous accomplishments — and even take them a step further.

“we are going to have more stringent energy codes that make renovated buildings more energy efficient, incentivizing new buildings to be designed, built, and operated more efficiently than is required by code,” segel-moss said.

segel-moss also explained that the funding the county will receive will be put to good use to help “local and regional needs.” he also said transportation will go through a change, as the county aims to make it more energy efficient. 

a question that a lot of people have is how this eco-friendly transformation will affect the residents of arlington county. however, segel-ross is confident the changes will have very little effect on everyone’s daily routines.

“we expect these changes to be incremental and to have little effect on day-to-day life,” he said. “there will be small changes such as cleaner air due to electric vehicles and electric school buses being used. however, much of the work we do is invisible, such as building efficiency, accelerating a clean electric grid, creating low-carbon transit options, and ensuring new development is net-zero or well above baseline building code.”

the changing climate has become one of the biggest issues in the political arena, and more officials from every level of government have started to take notice — from arlington county to every presidential candidate. 

said segel-ross: “we have no choice but to do our part. climate change is serious. businesses, residents, and governments must act.”