Clean Cooking: The Missing Link in Ending Energy Poverty
While the world is scrambling to accelerate energy production, we are leaving billions of people behind. Leaders have made bold commitments to build sustainable economies, yet we still have 700 million people who do not have a lightbulb in their homes and roughly one-third of the global population still use wood, charcoal and biomass for cooking. These are solvable problems.
The Energy Access Blind Spot
Electrification is making strides. The World Bank and the African Development Bank recently launched an effort called Mission 300 to bring 300 million Africans electricity access by 2030. And bringing greater attention to the need for clean cooking is part of that effort.
As U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright points out, “Two billion people on the planet still burn wood indoors, sometimes charcoal or dung, but mostly wood indoors to cook their meals and keep their house at a safe temperature. That indoor air pollution kills over 2 million people every year.” This unacceptable energy poverty isn’t just a development challenge — it’s a public health and economic emergency. The World Bank estimates that failing to act on clean cooking costs the global economy $2.4 trillion annually in health, economic and environmental damages.
Mission 300 doesn’t end with access to electricity — we must make sure that people have access to all forms of modern energy, including clean cooking. Without access to affordable, modern cooking solutions, families remain locked in a cycle of health risks, poverty, and inefficiency.
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Source – The Rockfeller Foundation