EVENTS
JOINING FORCES TO UNLOCK FINANCE FOR CLEAN COOKING
Why the world needs to unleash cash for clean cooking –
why the benefits outweigh the costs on every level imaginable By Howard Hudson, OPEC Fund
W
orldwide some 2.6 billion people – roughly equivalent to
the populations of China and India combined – still use dangerous and inefficient cooking systems, according to a UN report from 2021. The health and social costs are staggering: indoor air pollution from traditional cookstoves causes millions of deaths each year, particularly across sub- Saharan Africa. When accounting for the impacts on health, productivity, climate and environment, the overall costs stand in the region of US$2.4 trillion – tantamount to the annual GDP of France, according to a World Bank report from 2020. Against this backdrop, the OPEC Fund and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), an organization dedicated to affordable and clean energy, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to intensify their cooperation at a joint forum on “Unlocking Finance for Clean Cooking” in March. The event in Vienna gathered delegates from partner institutions and the private sector to share concrete opportunities for innovative financing, as part of ambitious plans to scale up investments in clean cooking across the Global South. Opening the event, OPEC Fund
Director-General Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa outlined plans to set up a trust fund to support energy transition efforts, including clean cooking. The facility will prioritize activities that contribute to universal access to modern energy services, ensure a just and inclusive energy transition, and reinforce climate resilience.
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Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO of SEforALL and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, congratulated the OPEC Fund on prioritizing clean cooking. This is crucial because one of the biggest challenges for achieving SDG 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy is the lack of finance, especially across sub- Saharan Africa – and US$4.4 billion per year is required to meet current targets, said Ms. Ogunbiyi. Key to success will be taking an integrated approach by all parties involved. Preeti Sinha, Executive Secretary of the UN Capital Development Fund, said that development impact relies on committed partners, including development funds and regional unions. However, the focus should be on the beneficiaries because “the ‘frontier markets’ of today will be the major
markets of tomorrow”. Countries such as Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burkina Faso, which have already received well over a million clean cooking systems, are today offsetting hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2. Malcolm Bricknell from the Modern
Energy Cooking Services program reviewed the funding landscape for clean cooking worldwide and explained the importance of innovation in terms of financing support and digital technology. For example, pay-as-you-go features are enabled by smart appliances, so customers can make regular payments through mobile money, while smart meters allow customer usage to be tracked and devices to be remotely managed. These innovations remove upfront price barriers, as end-users only need to pay small or zero deposits followed by installments.
He then outlined the opportunities
We need to integrate clean cooking into broader energy agendas. That will be the key to unlocking larger flows of funds.
Malcolm Bricknell, Modern Energy Cooking Services
linked to carbon credits and impact funding, before highlighting the contributions of smart data in terms of lowering costs and improving reporting accuracy. Utility-led financing is also important, as it increases uptake by cutting the upfront costs of e-cooking devices. Bricknell concluded by echoing SEforALL CEO Ogunbiyi: “We need to integrate clean cooking into broader energy agendas. That will be the key to unlocking larger flows of funds.” The forum ended with a discussion on the experiences and insights shared during the day, and with participants looking forward to the next project meeting, set for May 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda.
EVENT:
The OPEC Fund and SEforALL
and
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