"This is one of the solvable problems that we face in the world today, and I have been pushing the global alliance for clean cookstoves, because it is a triple winner."
- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, April 13, 2012
The Challenge:
For nearly 3 billion people in the developing world, traditional cookstoves and open fires remain the primary means for cooking and heating. Exposure to the toxic smoke from these traditional cookstoves accounts for nearly 2 million premature deaths annually, with women and young children the most affected, according to World Health Organization estimates. Exposure to cookstove smoke has cross-cutting implications, including: increased health problems, personal security risks, environmental consequences, and a negative economic impact.
The Solution:
The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is an innovative public-private partnership launched by Secretary Clinton in September 2010 and led by the United Nations Foundation. The initiative aims to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and combat climate change by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions. The Alliance’s "100 by 20" goal calls for 100 million homes to adopt clean and efficient stoves and fuels by 2020. The Alliance works with public, private, and non-profit partners to help overcome the market barriers that currently impede the production, deployment, and use of clean cookstoves in the developing world.
How it Works:
The Alliance works with public, private, and non-profit partners to help overcome the market barriers that currently impede the production, deployment, and use of clean cookstoves in the developing world. Development of a global clean cookstove industry that is constantly innovating to improve design and performance, while lowering the cost of stoves, can lead the way to widespread adoption of clean cooking solutions.
