BGN has joined governments, international organizations and other private sector companies in commending a new pledge to extend access to cleaner cooking facilities across Africa.
A summit in Paris hosted by the International Energy Agency (IEA) produced a global declaration on the importance of developing financing, policies and partnerships on the topic. The IEA also announced the mobilization of USD2.2 billion in related public and private sector pledges.
As one of the world’s largest traders of liquid gas, with a growing presence in Africa, BGN is eager to contribute to the coordinated public-private agenda on this important subject. Specifically, we are interested in how to join up thinking between international gas market actors, storage infrastructure operators and other supply chain participants with initiatives conducted through retailers and public sector bodies.
Lack of access to clean cooking affects over 2 billion people worldwide, with nearly four in five Africans still cooking over open fires and traditional stoves. The IEA hopes to reverse this situation and reach universal clean cooking access for all – an objective underlined by African leaders attending the Paris summit.
At stake, is a decline in premature deaths from respiratory diseases, particularly among African women and children who rely on wood fires and traditional stoves. Shifting from wood, or charcoal, to gas also helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation and gender inequality.
To read the Declaration in full, please see here. For the IEA’s 2023 report A Vision for Clean Cooking Access for All, see here.
