The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the UAE have announced a new programme to supply sustainable cooking energy and technologies to homes and communities around the world.
With ambitions to extend and bring in more key actors to engage together on this issue, the Beyond Food partnership, in collaboration with Nama Women Advancement Establishment, will encourage the implementation of clean cooking solutions.
According to IRENA, more than 2.6 billion people still use traditional fuels for cooking, and access to clean and affordable energy is still "far behind" the UN's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 aim of delivering clean energy to everyone by 2030.
It goes on to say that while more money is going into renewable energy initiatives, both on and off the grid, the clean cooking sector is only getting a small amount of local and foreign money.
"It is concerning that nearly one out of every three individuals today still lack the resources or infrastructure for a clean cooking environment, relying on cooking fuels like charcoal, wood, and kerosene," said Dr. Nawal Al-Hosany, the UAE's Permanent Representative to IRENA.
"Finding novel strategies to assist people benefit from healthier food systems, agriculture, and livelihoods is critical to long-term human growth." And I'm pleased to see that, with the launch of the Beyond Food programme, the UAE is doing just that in collaboration with its international partners."
Congratulation!