3 Million People Die Annually Due To Polluting Cooking Fuels- Report

A total of 3.2 million people across the world die annually as a result of the use of polluting fuels and technologies for cooking, a report has found.

The cooking fuels and technologies, it found, creates household air pollution by increasing exposure to toxic levels. This causes illness and, thereby, results in premature deaths.

Currently, it said 2.3 billion people still use polluting fuels and technologies for cooking despite the clean cooking campaign. The majority of them are in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia and conclude that the world remains off track to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030.

This forms part of the 2023 Energy Progress report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The report assesses the progress of the world in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 which includes reaching universal access to electricity and clean cooking, doubling historic levels of efficiency improvements, and substantially increasing the share of renewables in the global energy mix.

“Attaining this goal will have a deep impact on people’s health and well-being, helping to protect them from environmental and social risks such as air pollution, and expanding access to primary health care and services,” the WHO holds.

Other findings of the report indicated that the world is not on track to achieve SDG 7 for energy by 2030; in 2021, 567 million people in sub-Saharan Africa did not have access to electricity, accounting for more than 80% of the global population without access; and the growth pace of electricity access slowed in 2019–2021 compared to previous years.

It also found that renewable electricity use in global consumption has grown from 26.3% in 2019 to 28.2% in 2020; and International public financial flows in support of clean energy in developing countries stand at US$ 10.8 billion in 2021, 35% less than the 2010–2019 Average.

There are fears that SDG 7 may not be achieved by 2030 if much effort and resources are not invested.

“Current projections estimate that 1.9 billion people will be without clean cooking and 660 million without electricity access in 2030 if we do not take further action and continue with current efforts”