Flagship Partnerships Reach Key Milestones | Source: DIPNOTE, US State Dept blog, Jan 14, 2013 |
Jacob Moss serves as Director of the U.S. Cookstoves Initiative.
Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
Since Secretary Clinton launched the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves in 2010, it has become a leading platform for addressing the challenge that almost three billion people face every day as they cook their food over open fires or crude stoves. In 2012, a definitive new study reinforced the urgency of addressing these practices, doubling the estimate of mortality associated with exposure to cookstove smoke from two to four million deaths per year. The Alliance’s interim goal is to help 100 million homes adopt clean cooking solutions by 2020.
In 2012, the Alliance reached several key milestones, including: more than doubling its size to over 500 partners, including 38 countries; publishing a groundbreaking strategy for universal adoption of clean cookstoves and fuels; establishing the first-ever set ofinternational cookstove standards; setting six initial priority countries for Alliance operations; developing a comprehensive stove performance inventory containing data from over 600 unique tests to compare lab and field results and set credible standards; commissioning over $4 million in research and stove testing centers; and catalyzing over $150 million in investments — over $30 million for the Alliance and its grant programs, and over $120 million in parallel funding to spur advances in clean cooking.
The U.S. commitment under the Alliance is now up to $114 million, mostly in applied research and financing. And with the Secretary of State’s support, we’ve led a wide range of diplomatic activities to support the Alliance, including reaching out to engage new nations such as China, South Africa, Sweden, Afghanistan, and Mexico.
As Executive Director Radha Muthiah moves the Alliance to full-scale implementation in its priority countries and more broadly launches several major financing tools for the sector, I am confident that this momentum will continue in 2013.
