Cooking Smoke Kills Millions Every year. Here’s What the World Can Do about That

The problem: much of this cooking happens inside and the smoke it produces is laced with toxic particles. This type of household air pollution led to 3.1 million premature deaths in 2021 and is part of a larger crisis driving climate change and biodiversity loss.  

“Household air pollution is one of the world’s greatest public health threats and it is particularly harmful for children,” says Martina Otto, Head of Secretariat of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 

“But the good news is that cleaner cooking technology is plentiful, relatively inexpensive, and already helping to save lives. The challenge now is to get this technology into the hands of more people.” 

Yet, household air pollution is still the most underinvested health and environmental problem in the world.  

On 7 September, International Day of Clean Air for blue skies takes place, which is designed to raise awareness about the dangers of air pollution.

Ahead of the Day, here’s a closer look at the causes of household air pollution, and how cleaner cooking methods can save lives, counter climate change and slow biodiversity loss.

How does clean cooking help prevent climate change?  

The use of high-polluting cooking fuels, such as coal and firewood, produces as much planet-warming carbon dioxide as the aviation sector.

Switching to cleaner appliances, such as electric stoves, can help lower those emissions, says John Christensen, Director of the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre.

This type of technology is increasingly within the reach of poor households in developing nations, he adds. Countries, including many in Africa, are rapidly expanding their power generation based on renewable energy at the same time companies are producing small, affordable solar power systems for households not connected to the electric grid.

“The good news is that technological development and cost reductions have made electric cooking increasingly affordable,” says Christensen. 

Is the world making progress on clean cooking?  

Yes. Since 1990, the number of people mainly using polluting cooking fuels fell from more than half the global population to 29 per cent in 2021, which has led to a 36 per cent reduction in deaths from household air pollution since 2000.

This is also due to efforts to extend grid electricity and to provide households with cleaner fuels and cleaner-burning cookstoves. Yet, access to clean energy is still limited in South Asia and parts of Africa, where hundreds of millions of people still rely on solid fuels for cooking and heating.  

How can the world scale up clean cooking? 

Household air pollution is still the most underinvested health and environmental problem in the world. That needs to change. Globally, US$10 billion a year is needed by 2030 to achieve universal access to clean cooking, according to the International Energy Agency.

Current investments are just a fraction of that. “Given the technological advances and price reductions in solar-based cooking technologies, we need to ensure that there is affordable financing for households to purchase them,” Otto says.

She also underscores the importance of highlighting clean cooking targets – particularly electric cooking goals – in countries’ nationally determined contributions, a series of climate-change-related pledges due in 2025.

International Day of Clean Air for blue skies  

The International Day of Clean Air for blue skies held annually on 7 September and facilitated by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), raises awareness about the importance of clean air for health, productivity, the economy and the environment. This year’s theme “Invest in #CleanAirNow” underscores the economic, environmental and health benefits of investing in clean air.