Denmark has committed to contributing half a billion kroner to globally promote technologies for cleaner cooking, which is expected to save lives and protect the environment. This was announced by Dan Jørgensen, Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy, at a summit in Paris. Millions of people suffer each year from health damaging conditions due to smoke from cooking over open fires or other polluting methods. This practice poses a serious health risk, especially in low-income countries, affecting around 2.3 billion people globally, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Denmark’s contribution goes to the World Bank’s Clean Cooking Fund, which works to promote the use of stoves that produce less pollution. The fund also supports local businesses in developing these stoves and subsidy schemes that enable poor families to acquire them. The issue of health damaging smoke is particularly pronounced in Africa, where nearly four out of five people are exposed to dangerous smoke in their homes. The smoke also contributes to climate change, as it involves burning biomass such as wood and agricultural waste, leading to significant greenhouse gas emissions.
Dan Jørgensen points out that the amount of wood used for traditional cooking is equivalent to the total emissions from the global shipping and aviation industries. By investing in cleaner cooking technologies, Denmark can therefore play an important role in improving public health and reducing global emissions. Although there have been challenges with some of the stoves that have been introduced previously, the minister emphasizes the importance of broad collaboration with local authorities, NGOs, and international experts to ensure that the new technologies are effective and accessible to those who need them the most.
With this initiative, Denmark hopes to contribute to improving the quality of life for up to 200 million people, primarily in Africa, through the World Bank’s Clean Cooking Fund.