WE CANNOT COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE WITHOUT CLEAN COOKING

Clean cooking is a climate win, yet it remains critically underfunded. Carbon finance can help bridge the gap.

^{Authored by:}

^{Michael S. Regan, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency}

^{H.E. Samira Bawumia, Second Lady of Ghana}

Access to clean household energy is a global crisis:

In one-third of homes around the world, 2.3 billion people are forced to rely on fuels such as wood and charcoal burned in polluting open fires or inefficient stoves to cook their daily meals. In Africa, the population relying on these fuels is increasing. Lack of access to clean cooking has dangerous consequences for public health, climate, the local environment, and gender equality. This is what we discussed when we first met last year during a fireside chat at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai (COP28). Our conversation covered the challenges communities face in accessing improved cooking technologies, as well as the impacts of cooking with solid fuels on health, climate, environment, gender, and livelihoods.

The scale of the impact is significant. Cooking over polluting fires results in an estimated 3.3 million premature deaths annually, approximately 1 million of which are due to household energy’s contribution to ambient air pollution. This, and other harmful health consequences from cooking, disproportionately affects women, children, and vulnerable populations, making household energy a global, environmental justice issue.

_{^{© Samira Empowerment and Humanitarian Projects}}

In our work, we are committed to delivering climate and health equity to all, especially our most vulnerable and underserved communities, and to ensuring that women and youths have a seat at the table. Initiatives such as the Africa Women and Children Conference (AFRIWOCC) are bridging the gap between gender empowerment and environmental sustainability. AFRIWOCC’s advocacy and capacity-building efforts have amplified the voices of Africa’s women and children, recognizing them as not mere victims of climate change, but also as powerful agents of change in their own right. 

We will work together to prioritize programs that promote clean cooking while ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for everyone.

In January, we met in Accra, Ghana, to continue our discussions about clean cooking. We saw firsthand new cooking and energy initiatives that will help improve the lives of millions. Together, we visited Jamestown to hear directly from women about their experiences cooking with charcoal and wood fuel, and we discussed their desire to cook with cleaner and safer fuels. Initiatives that improve access to cleaner stoves and fuels will be critical in improving health and climate outcomes and empowering women and youths in communities like Jamestown across the continent.

As advocates for sustainable development and gender equality, we cannot overstate the significance of clean cooking in addressing climate change, improving health, and fostering economic empowerment, particularly for women in Africa. We believe strongly in the potential of innovative finance mechanisms, both to expand access to clean cooking technologies and to create opportunities for communities to participate in climate action while reaping economic benefits.

CLEAN COOKING IS A CLIMATE ISSUE

Cooking with high-emitting fuels releases approximately 1 gigaton of CO2 equivalent every year, equal to 1.9–2.3% of global emissions. This is similar to CO2 emissions from aviation or shipping. Cooking also emits short-lived climate pollutants like black carbon, which has a climate warming impact 460–1,500 times stronger than CO2. More than half of human-generated black carbon emissions come from household fuel combustion.

Unsustainable wood harvesting for fuel contributes to forest and environmental degradation and is also a major driver of climate change. Over 275 million people live in wood fuel “hot spots” — areas, primarily in Southeast Asia and Africa, where over 50% of wood fuel harvesting is unsustainable.

CLEAN COOKING IS A CLIMATE SOLUTION

Based on the scenarios in Floess et al. 2023., a full transition to LPG by 2040 would result in cumulative emissions reductions of almost 3 gigatons of CO2 equivalent – as much as would be sequestered by nearly 50 billion tree seedlings growing for 10 years.

Clean cooking is a proven and critical part of the climate solution. Today’s highly efficient biomass stoves can reduce fuel use by 30–60%, resulting in fewer greenhouse gas and black carbon emissions. Recent analysis supported by CCA demonstrates that a full global transition to select clean cooking solutions (i.e., LPG, electricity, or a mix of both) would result in a 10–14% reduction in cumulative CO2 equivalent emissions by 2040, nearly eliminate black carbon and other powerful climate forcers, and have a net cooling effect on global average temperature.

One way Ghana is working to support this transition is by expanding consumer access to LPG. We saw this firsthand on a visit to a new LPG facility just outside of Accra that will play a key role in Ghana’s clean cooking strategy. Rapidly accelerating clean cooking transitions to LPG and other cleaner-burning fuels will reduce climate emissions while simultaneously providing significant benefits for local and regional health, women’s empowerment, and local economies.

_{^{© Evans Ahorsu / Clean Cooking Alliance}}

DESPITE BENEFITS, CLEAN COOKING IS CRITICALLY UNDERFUNDED

The promise of clean cooking for climate, health, and social outcomes is clear. Yet, despite the proven benefits, the level of funding and investment in the sector has not matched the urgency of the clean cooking challenge. It is estimated that an annual investment of at least $10 billion is needed to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030. While investments are slowly increasing, the clean cooking ecosystem today receives only $200 million — a significant funding shortfall. At this rate, an estimated 2.1 billion people would still be without access to clean cooking solutions in 2030.

But we can change that projection.

We have the knowledge and technology to provide affordable clean cooking to every person in the world. What’s needed is for governments, investors, the private sector, and other ecosystem players to make clean cooking access a priority, while ensuring that solutions are designed with clean cooking users in mind and with their active engagement. Sources of innovative finance, especially through the carbon and domestic financial markets, have the potential to narrow the funding gap.

_{^{© CLASP}}

CARBON FINANCE IS TRANSFORMING THE SECTOR

Carbon markets play a key role in the pursuit of net zero greenhouse gas emissions and have the potential to provide funding at the scale necessary to bring about substantive transitions in the world’s energy systems and economies. To realize this potential, these markets must be able to channel funding toward the most essential solutions to meet the world’s global climate goals, including clean cooking. This funding could make clean cooking technologies and clean fuels more affordable and accessible for customers, enabling companies to grow faster and deliver the widespread benefits of clean cooking to new markets.

To take full advantage of the opportunities provided by carbon finance, clean cooking projects must be grounded in sound scientific methodologies, realistic parameters, and robust monitoring approaches that increase integrity, transparency, and accountability. If they are not, we risk undermining confidence in the carbon market, weakening countries’ abilities to meet their climate commitments — and worse, failing to deliver the climate, health, and livelihood benefits of clean cooking.

Building integrity in the cooking and carbon market supports a virtuous cycle in which high quality credits drive better technologies and incentives for sustained use. The Environmental Protection Agency is proud to partner with CCA and the Clean Cooking and Climate Consortium (4C) on developing a new methodology for crediting emissions reductions from cooking projects for use under the Paris Agreement and in the voluntary carbon market. This effort, and others you’ll read about in this issue, will enhance transparency, consistency, and scientific integrity in clean cooking carbon markets, helping deliver affordable clean cooking solutions to the billions of people currently cooking with inefficient stoves or open fires.

That’s why we are excited to see this issue of Vantage Point highlight the role that climate finance can play in mitigating the harmful effects of polluting cooking methods. The transformative and collaborative efforts underway across the clean cooking ecosystem will improve the conditions for clean cooking carbon projects and foster sustainable development in Africa and beyond. By harnessing the power of carbon finance in tandem with gender-responsive approaches, we can ensure that women and children, who today are disproportionately affected by energy poverty, are not left behind in the energy transition.

Together, let us continue to support the movement toward clean cooking, recognizing its significance in shaping a more equitable and sustainable future for all.

Authored by:
Michael S. Regan, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
H.E. Samira Bawumia, Second Lady of Ghana