Shell, UN foundations and USA spent millions on cookstoves

A grand ambition: $1 billion in 10 years to distribute 100 million clean cookstoves, grow a marketplace, and protect millions of lives from air pollution. A grander fall. India to the rescue...sort of

Air pollution caused by open cooking fires causes 3.8 million deaths every year, with 1 million in India

The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a Hillary Clinton-led initiative, promoted "clean" cookstoves to protect women

Philanthropies invested millions and then belatedly realised the stoves don't measure up to LPG stoves

The Alliance rebranded itself this week as the Global Alliance for Clean Cooking, a belated nod to LPG's superiority

Every winter, smog settles across North India, burning people’s eyes, making them cough, and increasing hospital visits. The pollution comes from vehicles, burning landfills, crop stubble fires, and other sources.

About 25% of these fumes are from indoor open cooking fires.

The World Health Organisation is hosting its first conference this week to figure out how to protect people from toxic air—including emissions from open cooking fires.

This is a story about global efforts to cut down indoor air pollution—which kills over 3.8 million people annually—and how things got a little twisted along the way.

AUTHOR

Gayathri Vaidyanathan

Gayathri writes on health, environment and science. She has reported and produced stories for the Washington Post, Discover, Nature, and the New York Times, amongst other publications. In her last assignment, she was the lead science writer for E&E News in Washington, D.C. E&E News is a news organisation focused on energy and the environment. Over the past decade, Gayathri has travelled across North America, Africa and Asia on long-form reporting projects. She has a master’s in journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor's in biochemistry from McMaster University in Ontario. At The Ken, Gayathri will write on healthcare, the pharmaceutical business and the environment. Based in Bengaluru, you can reach her at gayathri at the rate the-ken.com

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