High-Level Event on Clean Cooking

Event — New York, USA

Nearly two billion people worldwide still lack access to clean cooking. The gap contributes to an estimated 2.5 million premature deaths each year from household air pollution, with women and girls bearing the greatest burden. The environmental cost is equally stark: traditional cooking contributes to deforestation and generates 1.2 gigatonnes of greenhouse gases annually, comparable to emissions from international aviation and shipping combined. Many countries, particularly in Asia, have shown that rapid progress is possible. Africa remains off track, with nearly four in five households across the continent still without access.

That picture is beginning to change. The inaugural 2024 Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa catalysed a new phase of action: more than 50 new clean cooking policies have since been adopted across the continent, including 17 national targets. As a result, over 80% of Africans without access now live in countries that have strengthened their policy frameworks. Of the USD 2.2 billion committed at the Summit, USD 740 million has already been deployed through projects in 22 African countries. Despite headwinds from this year’s global energy crisis, people in Africa are gaining access 30% faster each year than over the past five years. The clean cooking issue has also featured prominently in the last three COP Climate Action Agendas and G20 Presidencies.

To build on this momentum, the Governments of Kenya and Norway and the IEA are hosting a high-level event on the margins of the UN General Assembly, bringing together governments, the private sector and development partners to elevate clean cooking as a priority for international action, share experience and good practice, and build political support ahead of COP31 and the 2027 Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa. The event aims to reinforce political accountability, unlock new partnerships and investment, and secure further commitments that translate into measurable outcomes.

  • H.E. William Ruto, President, Kenya

  • H.E. Jonas Gahr Støre, Prime Minister, Norway

  • Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency

  • H.E. Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General, United Nations

  • Mr. Ajay Banga, President, World Bank

  • H.E. Mr. Alexander De Croo, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme

  • Hon. Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy, United States

  • H.E. Mr. Murat Kurum, Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Türkiye

  • Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, Honorable Minister of State (Gas), Nigeria

  • H.E. Mr. Darragh O’Brien, Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy and Minister for Transport, Ireland

  • Hon. Lejone Mpotjoane, Minister of Energy and Mining, Lesotho

  • H.E. Lerato Dorothy Mataboge, Commissioner for Infrastructure & Energy, African Union Commission (AUC)

  • Mr Mark Bowman, Vice-President, Polic and Partnerships, EBRD

  • Ms. Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, Senior Vice President, African Development Bank Group

  • Mr. Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President, European Investment Bank (EIB)

  • Mr. Mark Bowman, Vice-President, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

 

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