Over 60 countries, developments institutions and companies pledged on Tuesday May 14 a total of $2.2 billions to finance access to clean cooking solutions in Africa and reduce the collateral health and environmental risks related to harmfull cooking methods.
The International Energy Agency convened global leaders for the Clean Cooking Summit in Paris to make 2024 a turning point for progress.
Today, 2.3 billion people worldwide still cook their meals on open fires or on basic stoves, breathing in harmful smoke released from burning solid fuels such as coal, charcoal, firewood, and agricultural wastes.
The smoke contributes to 3.7 million premature deaths annually, with women and children most at risk, given that in most cultures, women fulfill the task of delivering meals for the entire household.
“To solve this problem, you don’t need to discover new technology,” said Dr. Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA. “You need financial resources and the right policies to implement,” he added during his speech.
The number of people without access to clean cooking in Asia and Latin America has been declining in recent years thanks to supporting programmes delivering clean cooking stoves and fuels, but in sub-Saharan Africa, the number keeps growing, hence the intention to mobilize international commitment and action.
The $2.2 billion fund will be used to support the uptake of clean cooking stoves and equipment as well as electricity and gas infrastructures.
“Many years from now (…) we will see that the 14th of May 2024 will be considered or remembered as the turning point to address this issue,” said Dr. Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA.
The African Development Bank (ADB) will commit $2 billion to clean cooking over the next 10 years, told ADB’s President Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina.
Norway, co-chair of the Summit pledged approximately $50 million, continuting ‘to be a trusted partner for our friends in Africa,’ said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
European Commission’s executive vice president Maroš Šefčovič said that $431 million for clean cooking activities. “Team Europe will also soon launch a regional clean cooking action for West Africa, an initiative supporting policy-making, private sector development, and enabling environment for cleaner cooking solutions,” he told.
Summit’s co-chair Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan said the government will continue to promote policymaking, to make sure that 80% of Tanzanians will be using clean cooking methods by 2030.
For Suluhu Hassan, adoption of clean cooking will foster gender equality in the continent, and diminish harmfull emissions as well as deforestations.
Countries like Uganda, Mozambique started to implemented the use of electric cooking devices and other African countries are placing them as examples to follow.
According to the IEA’s analysis, increased demand for modern cooking fuels can be met readily by today’s energy system, however it will require some additional energy infrastructure, especially in Africa.
IEA estimates that $4 billion in capital investments per year are needed to meet access to clean cooking technologies by 2030.
