New Report Tracks Global Progress Toward Universal Access to Clean Cooking

A new report released today by the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves highlights the continuing progress toward achieving universal adoption of clean cooking by 2030. The Alliance’s 2017 Progress Report estimates that a total of 30.8 million clean and/or efficient cookstoves and fuels were distributed in 2016, bringing the total from 2010-2016 to more than 80 million.

“Just a few years ago, it would have been hard to imagine the tremendous progress being made across the clean cooking sector,” said Alliance CEO Radha Muthiah. “Challenges remain, certainly, but we’ve come a long way. Now is the time to accelerate market development with greater grants and investment as we set our sights on universal adoption by the year 2030.”

More than three billion people still depend on open fires and heavily-polluting fuels for cooking. The impacts of household air pollution are dramatic and far reaching, causing over 2.6 million premature deaths each year. Cooking with solid fuels also has significant impacts on air quality, climate, and forests, while impeding economic growth and women’s empowerment.

2016 saw continued investment in clean cooking through with both private sector and government-led programs, highlighted by India’s unprecedented campaign to connect 80 million households to clean cooking gas by 2020. New capital raised by manufacturers like Burn, Biolite, Envirofit, and Greenway, as well as innovative fuel-based enterprises such as Inyenyeri, PayGo Energy, and KOKO Networks shows the increased confidence of funders and investors in the sector. In addition, a host of new actors — including CARE, Save the Children, WWF, and the World Resources Institute — are either launching or expanding their focus on clean cooking and household air pollution.

To help drive consumer demand, the Alliance launched a series of behavior change campaigns in 2016. As part of the campaigns over 15 million people in Bangladesh received government-sponsored messages promoting clean cooking, a fictional mother is inspiring women to switch to clean cooking in Nigeria, and a top-rated clean cooking television show in Kenya is drawing 3 million viewers per week.

However, despite much progress, a sobering report from Sustainable Energy for All showed a multi-billion dollar investment gap for what’s needed to fund clean cooking. Without new resources, there’s little chance of meeting the clean cooking targets outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals.

These were central topics of discussion at the Clean Cooking Forum 2017 in October. More than 600 attendees from 57 countries gathered in New Delhi for three days of plenary and panel sessions, as well as remarks from global leaders including UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Infosys co-founder and Alliance India Leadership Council Chair Narayana Murthy, India Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, SEforAll CEO Rachel Kyte, CEO of the National Institution for Transforming India Amitabh Kant, UNICEF India Representative Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque, Ghana Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Alima Mahama, and Alliance CEO Radha Muthiah, among many others.

“We’ve come a long way. We’re making real progress. Let’s put our feet on the accelerator to drive the sector and market forward,” said Muthiah.

Find the 2017 Progress Report and additional resources at: www.cleancookstoves.org/progress2017

Contact:  Kip Patrick, Senior Director, Global Communications, 202-864-5656, kpatrick@cleancookstoves.org

About the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves:

The Alliance is a public-private partnership hosted by the UN Foundation to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and protect the environment by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions. The Alliance’s 100 by ‘20 goal calls for 100 million households to adopt clean and efficient cookstoves and fuels by 2020. We are working with a strong network of public, private and non-profit partners to accelerate the production, deployment, and use of clean and efficient cookstoves and fuels in developing countries.