IEA Drives Global Clean Cooking Initiative As 850,000 Die Yearly In Africa From Pollution

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is driving strong clean cooking technology with the launch of a new public-private initiative, led by the agency that aims to strengthen the resilience of clean cooking supply chains around the world. 

The initiative also aims at providing support for emerging economies and in particular Africa, where every year polluting cooking fuels cause 850,000 premature deaths.

During a recently virtual meeting co-chairs and partners took stock of recent financial and policy progress, signalling renewed ambition to deliver clean cooking access to 1 billion people

At the meeting, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, announced $900 million in new financial commitments to clean cooking in Africa, adding to the $2.2 billion mobilised at the inaugural 2024 Paris Summit.  

Of the 2024 commitments, $740 million has already been deployed across 22 African countries, according to comprehensive IEA tracking in a new status report.

The report highlights major policy progress since the first Summit, with 121 new clean cooking policies introduced across more than 30 countries representing 80 per cent of Africans without access to clean cooking. Building on this momentum, the African Union and the IEA are supporting countries to raise policy ambition ahead of the next Summit, in line with a pan-African, continental clean cooking strategy and action plan.

The co-chairs of the second Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa on Thursday, July 9, 2026, convened a high-level virtual event to review progress on expanding clean cooking access across the continent – and to announce new financial and policy commitments ahead of the upcoming Summit.

President William Ruto of Kenya, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of Norway, United States Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, African Union Commissioner for Energy and Infrastructure Lerato Mataboge, and IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol at the virtual meeting

The session brought together President William Ruto of Kenya, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of Norway, United States Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, African Union Commissioner for Energy and Infrastructure Lerato Mataboge, and IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

The participants noted that clean cooking remains one of the most pressing energy security challenges of our time, with nearly 1 billion people across Africa still lacking access to it – contributing to around 850,000 premature deaths each year. They reaffirmed their resolve to keep political attention on this issue and mobilise the investment needed to close the access gap.

In the meeting, participants discussed how the co-chairs, along with co-organisers African Union and African Development Bank, can ensure clean cooking remains a priority going forward. They emphasise the opportunity to leverage multilateral fora, such as the United Nations General Assembly, the G20 and COP, to build on Thursday’s announcements and deliver even stronger outcomes at the rescheduled Summit.

During the event, Dr Birol also announced the launch of a new public-private initiative, led by the IEA, that aims to strengthen the resilience of clean cooking supply chains around the world. Disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz this year impacted 30 per cent of globally traded liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) the world’s primary cooking fuel, with more than 3.4 billion people dependent on it for their daily meals. 

In response to requests from countries for support, the new Clean Cooking Security Programme will provide targeted policy and market assistance to enhance domestic fuel security and explore pathways for enhancing global cooperation on this matter.

The event also marked the inaugural meeting of the newly constituted Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) as a multilateral initiative hosted by the IEA. Building on its longstanding role in advancing access to clean cooking, the Alliance welcomed twelve countries to its first plenary meeting, with more countries exploring membership. Working in close partnership with the IEA, the Alliance will strengthen support for country-led implementation and help translate commitments into measurable progress.

President William Ruto of Kenya said, “Ambition alone is not enough. It must be backed by investment. Closing the continent’s clean cooking access gap will require investment at scale, yet annual financing remains far below what is needed. That is why the announcements we have heard today are significant.”

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of Norway said, “Every year polluting cooking fuels cause 850,000 premature deaths in Africa, affecting primarily women and children. Clean cooking is one of the most underfunded opportunities in global development and climate policy. We have the technologies, and know that by working together as governments, international partners and the private sector, rapid progress can be made. Clean cooking must move from the margins to the centre of our collective effort. We need to build on the progress we made at the 2024 Paris summit and deliver at scale. Norway will continue to do its part.”

US Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, said, “Access to clean cooking is one of the most impactful, yet overlooked, challenges of our time. This issue directly affects the lives of billions of people – particularly women and children. It is an infrastructure problem to which we know the solution: more energy. By expanding access to affordable and reliable propane gas, we can transform human lives across the globe.”

African Union Commissioner for Energy and Infrastructure Lerato Mataboge said, “Clean cooking in Africa is not simply about energy access; it is a transformative economic frontier with the power to reshape livelihoods, markets, and futures across the continent. Women and children in four out of every five households continue to be denied the opportunity to contribute to the Pan-African vision of an integrated and prosperous Africa, as espoused in our development blueprint, Agenda 2063.”

President Sidi Ould Tah of the African Development Bank Group said, “Clean cooking is one of the most consequential fronts in Africa’s energy agenda, shaping the health, time and opportunity of nearly one billion Africans. Since the inaugural Africa Clean Cooking Summit in 2024, the African Development Bank Group has increased its clean cooking financing roughly tenfold. Universal access is achievable, but it will take all of us, and we call on partners to match their ambitions with ours.”

IEA Executive Director, Fatih Birol, said, “At our 2024 Summit, we mobilised $2.2 billion in public and private sector commitments for clean cooking in Africa, to be disbursed in full by 2030. I said we would track every dollar committed and every stove reaching households. Today, I am pleased to report that more than one-third of those funds has already been disbursed in just two years.

“Since then, new partners have stepped forward with a further $900 million in commitments, with more expected before the Summit reconvenes. We will continue working with governments, industry and development partners to turn these commitments into lasting improvements for the millions of people who still lack access to clean cooking.”