The recently-formed Global Alliance for clean cookstoves is bringing governments, NGOs and researchers together with the aim of introducing 100 million clean cooking stoves into kitchens in low-income countries by 2020.
An impressive target, and one now supprted by the likes of Hilary Clinton and Julie Roberts (read more here). This high-level support of this 40 year old sector marks a gearing up in this sector.
More than 2 billion people in the world rely on wood and other biomass for their fuel needs, and most use unimproved, smoky and inefficient open fires. This results in chronic smoke pollution in homes (the cause of 1.6 million deaths each year - mainly of women and children - from pneumonia and other lung diseases). Fuel is often collected from far away, from depleting resources, or purchased at high financial cost in urban areas.
Many of the pollutants emitted are also potent greenhouse gases, so reducing fuel consumption and emissions can have many human and environmental benefits. Wild Stoves is forming partnerships at present through a simple fund which will be used to support more of these projects worldwide. This will expand our popular 'Fund a stove' programme presently in place. Watch this space.
