Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is in partnership with USAID, the U.S. DOE, the U.S. Department of State, the EPA, the UN, and many other Alliance Founding Partners with the primary goal to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women and combat climate change. In the developing world, nearly 1.9 million are sick due to the smoke produced in their homes from traditional cookstoves. These cookstoves are reliant on coal, wood, dung, and any other abstract burning materials. The burning of these materials create adverse health impacts and contribute to global warming. Women and children, in particular, are greatly affected by this traditional way of life, which continues in developing countries. At least 20 hours a week are dedicated to collecting these materials that in turn harm, in many ways. Through the empowerment of women and the implementation of energy-efficient cookstoves, in developing countries, the goals of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves can be met, through the assistance of developed countries, such as the United States.

The implementation of clean-burning stoves is essential to the reduction of greenhouse gases on a global scale, as these new stoves are primarily dependent upon renewable energy, such as solar and wind. Three billion people use polluting, inefficient cookstoves daily, which contributes to air pollution. The Global Alliance aims to begin initiatives in Africa, Asia, and India. As a matter of fact, the U.S. DOE has funded cookstove projects in Kenya & Honduras. Health benefits are also key to this initiative. Half of the 3 billion persons are dying of insufficient nutrition also die due to do air pollution. Cooking over coal-burning, dung-burning, or wood-burning stoves is not positive to your overall health because air pollution can cause a long list of adverse effects such as asthma, bronchitis, heart attacks, etc.

Developing nations lack the funds and resources to implement cleaner processes and with the help of the United States, we can improve the future for us and future generations to come. The United States has a commitment of $50.82 million, over the next 5 years, for the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

In order to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, a major shift in sustainable energy is required. Those not connected to the grid, a must find different sources of energy, instead of wood, coal, and dung. It begins now with small, individual projects, rather than retrofitting all of the world's coal-fired power plants. It is in our self-interest to support the Global Alliance initiative, as it is not just the women and children directly affected by the unclean cookstoves, but all persons on planet Earth, affected by global warming.

--Jennifer Tabones