Perhaps the Health Ministry could Sign It ?The International...

Perhaps the Health Ministry could Sign It ?

The International Energy Agency has marshalled $2.2bn from governments and companies, including oil and gas groups, to fund better cooking methods across Africa in the “largest ever pledge” to tackle health issues from the use of the dirtiest fuels.

An estimated 950mn people in Africa, who could not afford gas or electricity, burnt charcoal or firewood often in enclosed spaces for cooking, subjecting them to the effects of smoke inhalation, according to the UN. The lack of clean cooking facilities contributed to 3.7mn premature deaths globally each year, mostly of women and children, according to the IEA.

The IEA estimates a $4bn annual investment is needed for households in Africa to have access to clean cooking methods by 2030, or a fraction of the $2.8tn invested in energy globally in 2023.

“Unlike some other challenges we have in the energy and climate domains, this doesn’t require any new technology. This doesn’t require a huge amount of budget. This requires a bit of attention and a bit of international support [to] create plans and strategies in the African countries.....

Birol argued that if each of the four in five families in Africa using primitive cooking stoves switched to gas, the emissions would still be less than those from the cutting down of trees.

Last week, the FT accompanied four women in Narok county, Kenya, as they walked a round trip of four miles into the forest to collect firewood and charcoal in a journey that involved steep climbs and crossing two rivers across precarious makeshift bridges.

“We come every day,” said Veronica Ngusilo, a woman from the Ogiek community, as she made the trip with a bag of charcoal on her back and three branches in her arms. She said collecting firewood was easier and cheaper than buying alternatives in town.

$2.2bn Africa cooking stove plan includes funds from oil and gas groups https://www.ft.com/content/8ba9004c-7729-4bf3-a375-d7374919d687