in new commitments when it was read out and signed jointly by Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, and Honourable Nancy Tembo, Minister of Forestry and Natural Resources of the Republic of Malawi, at the UN Climate change conference. Many purposeful individuals such as Zerbini can trigger the change they want to see, and their actions can have a tremendous positive impact on their lives, the organisations they work for, and the communities within which they operate. It makes sense, given our desire to lead meaningful lives and commit to a cause that has become a critically important issue today, that leaders who shape the future of their businesses step up, broaden their horizons, and contribute to serving a larger purpose.
As part of the TIE Accelerator programme Zerbini worked with like-minded individuals from different backgrounds to help the Republic of Malawi present at the UN’s High-level Dialogue on Energy Conference in New York City on 24 of September, and COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, to bring a voice to those 3 billion people, helping save their lives and work towards decreasing climate change. He describes it as ‘an historic opportunity to be a part of a transformational programme and bring voice to 3 billion people with no access to clean cooking tools. ‘The preparatory processes were an eye-opener to a lot of unknown struggles countries such as Malawi are facing in their fight against climate change,’ he adds. ‘It is not just for world leaders to prioritise and invest in energy efficient cooking solutions but also for individuals and businesses to help accelerate the progress on achieving net-zero emissions.’ A highlight of Zerbini’s engagement with the Cleaner Cooking Coalition was assembling an impressive panel of political, financial, non-profit, and business experts for a discussion hosted for International Clean Air Day. He and the TIE Accelerator team
This was the opportunity offered to Luca Zerbini, who is passionate about purpose- driven leadership and sustainability, and wants to leave a safer planet for future generations. He joined The International Exchange (TIE Accelerator) programme in June 2021 to help crack this challenge – and to be part of the solution. Zerbini holds a leadership position as the General Partner for Peak Point Partners, where he is managing venture capital investments for start-ups at the crossroads of technology and sustainability. In August 2021, as part of the TIE Accelerator programme, he spent six weeks helping the Cleaner Cooking Coalition to promote and provide cleaner biomass stoves to achieve a cleaner, affordable source of energy in many parts of the world. Some 3 billion people around the world have no access to clean cooking solutions and continue to rely on open-fire cooking, using wood and charcoal. The smoke emitted from traditional cooking methods produces such high levels of dangerous cooking smoke, that World Health Organization (WHO) estimates it leads to around four million deaths every year – a figure that exceeds the death toll attributed to malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS together, mainly affecting women and children. As Zerbini explains: ‘The use of wood, charcoal, and waste for cooking contributes to deforestation and release harmful carbon emissions in the air. Open-fire cooking accounts for up to 58% of global black carbon emissions – approximately 2% of global emissions – and is the second largest contributor to climate change, but remains a largely unknown climate challenge. Despite continued efforts, access to clean cooking methods remains a global challenge that needs to be addressed and backed with investments and corporate-government partnerships.’
also helped draft a speech for the President of Malawi to present at the UN conference.
Another was developing two key objectives to be proposed and achieved at the UN meet: to provide access to cleaner, locally produced, higher- performing fuels and stoves to all families by
‘It makes sense... that leaders who shape the future of their businesses, step up’
2030, and to help achieve net- zero emissions by upgrading these fuels and stoves to electric, biogas and other forms of clean cooking by 2050. The Cleaner Cooking Pledge, created by Zerbini and the TIE team, resulted
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