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More than two billion people around the world rely on traditional fuels such as kerosene, wood and charcoal for their daily cooking. The continued use of these fuels poses serious health risks through household air pollution, with women and children being the worst affected. Traditional cooking methods contribute to ap- proximately 3.7 million premature deaths annually and significant environmental degradation and climate change. Clean cooking involves using fuels and technologies that produce little to no house- hold air pollution such as electric stoves, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), biogas and improved biomass cookstoves. THE GLOBAL CLEAN COOKING AGENDA Clean cooking has emerged as a critical component of the global development agenda. It was incorporated into the 2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 7) and has been a prominent theme at international climate conferences. Clean cooking is crucial for public health, environmental protection and socio- economic development. It has grown in scale and complexity, encompassing a wide range of technologies, fuels, business models and innovative funding instruments. Despite the recognized importance, the transition to clean cooking remains slow and challenging. Between 2010 and 2021 global access to clean cooking increased by only 1.4 percentage points annually, with most progress concentrated in a few populous developing countries. Today, roughly three-quarters (74 percent) of those without access to clean cooking are located in just 20 countries, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Investment levels are significantly below the required US$8 billion annually to achieve universal access by 2030.
People who rely on traditional fuels worldwide:
2 BILLION
AN OPEC FUND KNOWLEDGE SERIES REPORT 2024
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