I recently posted the blog below on 1well.org, an organization devoted to supporting small scale projects in the developing world that empower communities, protect public health, and ensure sustainable livelihoods (and 1well’s director is my good pal, Dan Morrison). Worldwatch also cares deeply about highlighting the role of gender when we write about environmental issues. State of the World 2009: Into a Warming World highlights the toll climate change will have on vulnerable groups, including poor women in developing countries who are responsible for growing and preparing food and who will likely be the most adversely affected by changes in weather patterns and water scarcity that are results of climate change.

Reducing Emissions: It’s Not Just About Climate Change

by Danielle Nierenberg

Monday April 20, 2009 at 12:49pm, EST

Last week, the New York Times published a story on “black carbon.” Black carbon is the soot created when charcoal, coal, dung, wood and other biomass fuels are burned. This soot coats villages and slums all over China, India, Thailand, and Africa. Black carbon, the article points out, is also potentially a growing cause of climate change— recent studies claim it contributes about 18 percent to the planet’s warming. Removing black soot is quite simple, according to the NYT article — install more fuel efficient stoves that eliminate soot. Problem solved.

However, solar stoves aren’t just a solution for climate change. They are also help ensure that families, especially women, are healthier and empower them to work and earn a living wage.

Women produce most of the food in the world—60 to 70 percent in Asia and Africa—and are, not surprisingly, responsible for the majority of food processing and preparation. This means they often spend hours over a stove, breathing in soot and fumes, as well as many hours walking collecting wood and other fuel for cooking. The impact on their health is enormous and fuel collection leaves them with little time to work and earn a living wage.

Installing more fuel-efficient, less polluting stoves and other technologies, like biogas systems and solar lanterns, reduce dependence on environmentally unfriendly forms of fuel, increase community health, and reduce the time burden of women. Check out 1Well’s 1Well’s Available Projects and learn how you can provide clean energy solutions to poor communities.