21 November 2014: The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves’s inaugural pledging event, the Cookstoves Future Summit, raised more than US$400 million for clean cooking technologies over three years. The pledges come from a diverse range of stakeholders, including governments, UN agencies, the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and address a range of actions, including affordability and access, awareness and behavior change, monitoring and standards and technology.

Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, Radha Muthiah, observed that the Alliance has increased from 19 founding partners to more than 1,000 partners over the past four years. She said such an increase shows that “the global community has taken a clear stand in support of the clean cooking sector and implementing countries have likewise made clear their steadfast determination to tackle the issue of household air pollution in a way that yields tangible results.”

Bilateral commitments totaled US$286 million, including pledges from the four summit co-hosts, the US, UK, Norway and Ghana. The Government of Ghana was one of several implementing countries to make a commitment.

The private sector pledged an additional US$127 million. US$100 million of the private sector commitment will be allocated to a fund that will support social enterprises and catalyze the advancement and deployment of clean cooking technologies. The Global Alliance is creating the fund in partnership with Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, private investors and other development finance institutions.

Bank of America’s contribution is a part of its Catalytic Finance Initiative, which was announced at UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s September 2014 Climate Summit. Under the Initiative, Bank of America intends to catalyze US$10 billion in renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy access investments.

In addition to the grants and investment funding committed at the Summit, many governments made policy commitments intended to accelerate their transition to clean cookstoves.

The Summit aimed to raise global awareness on household air pollution and the benefits of clean cookstoves and fuels and mobilize financial resources for the Alliance. The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is a public-private partnership led by the UN Foundation. Its goal is to transition 100 million households to clean cooking appliances by 2020. [UNFCCC Press Release] [Global Alliance Press Release] [Cookstoves Future Summit Commitments] [Bank of America Press Release]