17 March 2011: The UNFCCC Secretariat has produced five ‘broadcast-ready’ radio stories about the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for dissemination to radio stations in Africa. The purpose of these stories is to make the CDM understandable and accessible to a broad audience, including community stakeholders, potential project participants and policy makers.

One of the radio stories describes the benefits of CDM in Africa, which include providing opportunities for sustainable development, creating employment, increasing economic activity, improving air quality and transferring technology. The other four stories each describe a CDM project in Africa. The first is the “Efficient Fuel Wood Stoves for Nigeria” CDM project, that provides highly efficient wood stoves to tackle the problem of severe deforestation and desertification caused by firewood consumption. The second is the “Kuyasa Low-cost Urban Housing Energy Upgrade Project” in South Africa, which aims to improve the thermal performance of the existing and future housing units, and improve lighting and water heating efficiency. The third is the “Quezon City Controlled Disposal Facility Biogas Emission Reduction Project” in Cote d’Ivoire, a waste-to-energy project for the collection and treatment of 200,000 tons of urban waste annually using anaerobic digesters. Under the project, the resulting biogas will be used to produce electricity, while residual waste will be transformed into compost. The fourth project is the “Tugela Mill Fuel Switching Project” in South Africa, a fuel switching project that will reduce fossil fuel use and bring additional benefits, such as the long-term sustainability of the local paper mill and economic improvement in the area where the project is located. The five radio stories are also available in broadcast quality by contacting the UNFCCC Secretariat directly. [UNFCCC Press Release]