Café
WeCLISH Climate Café
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We are glad you are interested in conversing with the Café Guest and other participants invested in climate justice, research, policy, advocacy, and actions.
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Next Climate Café
Register to Join the Next Climate Café
Friday, April 24, 2026, 9–10 AM (EST)
Zoom: https://westernuniversity.zoom.us/j/92077290738
Meeting ID: 920 7729 0738
Topic: Clean Cooking and Cooking Bag Innovations: Harnessing Solutions for Health and Climate Action
Café Guests
Cornelius Pienaah
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4528-3086
Cornelius K. A. Pienaah is a Ph.D. candidate in Geography and Environment at Western University and a student fellow at WeCLISH.
Cornelius holds an MPhil in Environment and Resource Management and a B.Sc. in Renewable Natural Resources from the University for Development Studies in Tamale, Ghana. He is a pracademic specializing in Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Change.
Cornelius has extensive professional experience, including roles as a Technical Advisor with the European Union (EU) - Resilience Against Climate Change (REACH) Project under Market-Oriented Value Chains for Jobs and Growth in the ECOWAS Region (MOVE), and as chair of the MEDA-London Ontario Network Hub. He is also the Co-Vice President of the GeoGrad Society at Western.
David Knoppert
David Knoppert, a retired Pediatric Pharmacist, has been a Rotarian since 2015, first with the Rotary Club of London Hyde Park and, more recently, with London South.
As a member of the Environment Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG) and Co-Chair of the Clean Cooking Task Force, he has collaborated with several Rotary Clubs on clean and solar cooking projects in Nicaragua, Kenya, and Mexico.
David drives an electric car, uses an electric snowblower and lawn mower, composts, uses only mulch in his gardens, and tries to eat a plant-rich diet.
He’s also a regular exhibitor at the EarthFest London. He welcomes you to visit his booth at the London Central Library on Saturday, April 25, 2026, at this year’s event.
Description
Let’s drink in the WeCLISH Climate Café Zoom Room and connect over an insightful conversation with our Café Guests: Cornelius Pienaah and David Knoppert.
Our café guest, Pienaah, will introduce you to a locally designed Cooking Bag, which is an insulated device that keeps food cooking after it reaches a boil, reducing the need for additional fuel. This innovation addresses the widespread use of biomass fuels such as firewood and charcoal, which pose severe health, environmental, and economic challenges in sub-Saharan Africa. By cutting fuel consumption by 45-50 percent, the cooking bag lowers indoor air pollution and reduces the harmful health impacts of smoke inhalation. Pienaah will share how this innovation has the potential to support women-led artisanship, reduce fuelwood use, improve health outcomes, and empower them economically by enabling them to spend less time collecting firewood and more time on productive, income-generating activities.
Next, Knoppert will shed light on a range of clean and solar cooking innovations in North America, Latin America and African countries. Drawing on his experience of implementing projects in collaboration with Rotary Clubs in Nicaragua, Kenya, and Mexico, he will share the successes and failures of these community- and Rotary-led environmental and sustainability initiatives, and the way forward to improve the health of people and the Earth.
Please mark your calendar and join us to listen, get inspired, and share your thoughts for an engaging conversation!
