This article was originally published by Clean Cooking Alliance. 

Providing clean energy to households is critical to achieving global climate and sustainable development goals. Yet, with fewer than ten years until we reach 2030, the world remains far off track to meet SDG7.

Within the frame of the United Nations’ High-Level Dialogue on Energy, the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) has launched a multi-stakeholder Energy Compact to “Unlock the SDGs and Net-Zero with Clean Cooking” (read the full Energy Compact here). Changing the way families cook their food each day will slow climate change, drive gender equality, reduce poverty and provide enormous health benefits. Quite simply, there can be no just energy transition without universal access to clean cooking.

Watch the full Clean Cooking Energy Compact launch on YouTube and join the “Unlock the SDGs and Net-Zero with Clean Cooking” Compact. To learn more about ENERGIA’s commitment and involvement, read Sheila Oparaocha’s speech at the Clean Cooking Energy Compact launch.

Press release

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 20, 2021 – Joining a global effort led by the United Nations to accelerate action on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) has launched a multi-stakeholder Clean Cooking Energy Compact. Titled “Unlock the SDGs and Net-Zero with Clean Cooking,” the Energy Compact promotes a just energy transition while aiming to accelerate universal access to clean cooking by 2030.

CCA and a range of government, nonprofit, and private sector partners launched the Energy Compact as part of the Plenary Session for the Week of Clean Cooking, a week-long series of engagements to catalyze action across the clean cooking ecosystem.

While more than 130 Energy Compacts have been registered with the United Nations to date, only 17 include any action on clean cooking, accounting for a tiny fraction of the committed financing and investment. CCA’s Energy Compact to “Unlock the SDGs and Net-Zero with Clean Cooking” aims to: integrate clean cooking into national and city energy planning and embed it within Nationally Determined Contributions; create favorable, stable policy and fiscal environments; dramatically scale up public funding and private investment for clean cooking; scale up people-centered clean cooking solutions; increase the participation of women and integrate gender issues; build synergies with electrification efforts; and, ultimately, leave no one behind.

“To date, the level of funding and investment in the clean cooking sector has not matched the global magnitude of the challenge, and time is running out to reach SDG7,” said Dymphna van der Lans, CEO of the Clean Cooking Alliance. “Now is the moment to prioritize access to clean cooking solutions in global and national arenas and dramatically scale up public and private financing through a coordinated approach across the entire sector.”

At the time of its launch, 41 stakeholders had endorsed the “Unlock the SDGs and Net-Zero with Clean Cooking” Compact, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the Ministry of Energy of Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Energy of Kenya, the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources of Bangladesh, the World Food Programme (WFP), Gold Standard, NORAD, UNITAR, Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS), ENERGIA, ENVIROFIT, and many more.

“I’m glad to know that CCA has created the Energy Compact, which is a well-structured initiative to ensure increased access to clean cooking. We need a concerted effort from the government, academia, development partners, financial institutions, NGOs, and civil society. Let’s say yes to clean cooking, which is healthy for both people and the environment,” said Nasrul Hamid, State Minister, Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, Bangladesh.

“The first target we’ve set ourselves is to increase the use of LPG to an adoption rate of 25 percent, and the second is to increase energy-saving cooking solutions for all households. For the people of Sierra Leone, clean cooking means a more resilient climate, recovering 40 percent of lost forest area, strengthening our economy, creating new jobs for local companies, manufacturing sustainable products, increasing agricultural productivity, and securing water supply services,” said Dr. Eldred Tunde Taylor, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Energy, Sierra Leone.

“Kenya has recognized clean cooking as a high-impact initiative and set a target to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2028. Ongoing initiatives signal the synergy between national and global actions on clean cooking, and we look forward to partnering with other agencies in this quest,” said Dr. Faith Wandera Odongo, Senior Deputy Director of Renewable Energy Ministry of Energy, Kenya.

“We welcome CCA’s Energy Compact, which is clear and action-oriented. We support the multi-stakeholder approach and believe it will be of great added-value because we cannot really tackle these challenges alone – in fact, no one can. The energy transition can only be effective if it is just and inclusive, and no issue demonstrates this better than clean cooking,” said Hannah Wijmenga, Policy Officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands.

“We really think this Compact draws attention to the net-zero carbon elements of the clean cooking challenge, and we do believe that there is a need for a collaborative, system-wide approach. We particularly appreciate the synergy with electrification; we think cooking has to be embedded in national planning and, indeed, Nationally Determined Contributions, and for that we greatly appreciate CCA’s leadership,” said Dr. Simon Batchelor, Research and Innovation Coordinator, MECS.

“We cannot achieve a just energy transition to universal clean cooking without women being decisionmakers, co-investors, and providers of cooking solutions. We are proud to be a founding member of the Clean Cooking Energy Compact. We congratulate CCA and all other parties for prioritizing this very important Compact that we feel is a critical milestone in achieving SDG7 and SDG5 agendas and women’s empowerment,” said Sheila Oparoacha, International Coordinator, ENERGIA.

“Cooking is the biggest need in the humanitarian sector. Eighty percent of the 100 million people in need of humanitarian assistance do not have access to clean cooking. Thank you to the CCA team for bringing us all behind this document and we’re looking forward to working with you in the future,” said Thomas Fohgrub, Head of the Coordination Unit for the Global Platform of Action on Sustainable Energy in Displacement Settings, UNITAR.

“The only way to speed up [universal access to clean cooking] is if we join forces and make sure everybody works together, aligned by a common roadmap and common targets with very open and constructive cooperation. I’m glad we’ve always had that open, constructive cooperation between GOGLA and CCA. I’m therefore delighted to speak on behalf of GOGLA that we fully endorse the objectives of the Compact for Clean Cooking,” said Koen Peters, Executive Director, GOGLA.

“We need to ensure that the food we deliver through [humanitarian] systems can be cleanly cooked. We now aspire to scale up, harmonize across geographies, and bring long-term change sustainably. We look forward to joining hands through this Energy Compact with countries and organizations to achieve our common goal,” said Raffaella Bellanca, Energy for Food Security Advisor, WFP.

“World Central Kitchen is happy to be here to support the Energy Compact. Most of our work in the cooking resilience area is in institutions, where we convert schools that are cooking with biomass to LPG stoves,” said Christina Espinosa, Director of Clean Cooking, World Central Kitchen.

CCA invites countries, cities, companies, and organizations to endorse the “Unlock the SDGs and Net-Zero with Clean Cooking” Energy Compact, and encourages partners to develop specific commitments and actions to achieve the targets set out in the document. Interested stakeholders throughout the clean energy ecosystem can work with CCA to develop and register commitments, together ensuring that no one’s life is limited by how they cook.

Providing clean energy to households is critical to achieving global climate and sustainable development goals. Yet, with fewer than 10 years until 2030, the world remains far off track to meet SDG7 – ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. Approximately one-third of the world’s population – 2.6 billion people – still lacks access to clean cooking solutions, costing trillions of dollars in damage to the climate and local economies and contributing to more than 4 million premature deaths each year. Improving the way families cook their food each day can slow climate change, drive gender equality, reduce poverty, and provide enormous health benefits.

Please visit CCA’s “Unlock the SDGs and Net-Zero with Clean Cooking” Energy Compact webpage to learn more.