The session will lay bare the situation and call for tropical ecologists and conservation scientists to reflect on what is at stake, and debate how to move forward with feasible and rigorous solutions for cooking in Africa.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the most rapidly urbanizing region worldwide. The region’s urban population is expected to double in the next 20 years and exceed one billion people by 2045 (UNDESA). Meeting the energy needs of this expanding population presents a huge challenge. The WHO projects that in the absence of major policy interventions, over 400 million of the region’s city-dwellers will cook with charcoal. Currently, much of the region’s charcoal is either produced from natural forests and woodlands under minimal management or as a by-product of agricultural expansion. Both pathways are unsustainable. This panel aims to unravel the complexities embedded in quantifying the emissions reductions and carbon sequestration potential from clean cooking and related “nature-based” solutions by bringing together key players in this space, including geospatial scientists and energy experts working on tools that quantify wood productivity and landscape responses to wood harvesting, to cookstove project developers, NGOs promoting sustainable charcoal production, and private sector players committed to natural forest regeneration. The session will lay bare the situation and call for tropical ecologists and conservation scientists to reflect on what is at stake, and debate how to move forward with feasible and rigorous solutions for cooking in Africa.