The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves offers a FAQ and Stakeholder Guidance document on the new international standard for cookstoves developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee 285 (TC 285) on Clean Cookstoves and Clean Cooking Solutions....

Global trend. In 2023, an estimated 74 (70–77)7 percent of the global population relied primarily on clean cooking fuels and technologies. Although this represents notable progress since 2010, roughly a quarter of the world’s population—around 2.1 (1.9–2.5) billion people—remains dependent on polluting fuels and technologies for cooking.Target for 2030. At current rates, only 78 (74–81) percent of...

Clean cooking access is a defining challenge for Africa’s prosperity. While the number of people without access to clean cooking has halved globally since 2010, the number in sub-Saharan Africa continues to rise. This harms health, economic development, and the environment – contributing to 815 000 premature deaths annually and significant deforestation.In a new report, Universal Access to Clean C...

Recent data indicate a significant reduction in deforestation in some countries. But climate change is making forests more vulnerable to stressors such as wildfire and pests.Projections indicate large increases in wood demand by 2050. Nearly three-quarters of the world’s population uses non-timber forest products.More innovation is needed in the forest sector, driven by escalating forest stressors...

Latest IEA data show that 730 million people worldwide still lacked access to electricity in 2024, a decline of only 11 million from 2023. This pace is slower than the annual progress achieved before the pandemic and confirms the IEA’s earlier estimates. Preliminary 2025 data suggest the trend will continue. Progress remains fragile. In many sub-Saharan African countries, population growth continu...

Key factsAround 2.1 billion people worldwide (around a third of the global population) cook using open fires or inefficient stoves fuelled by kerosene, biomass (wood, animal dung and crop waste) and coal, which generates harmful household air pollution.Household air pollution was responsible for an estimated 3.2 million deaths per year in 2020, including over 237 000 deaths of children under the a...

Providing effective solid waste management (SWM) is essential to tackle plastics pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and avoid other potentially harmful impacts, including local air pollution impacts from open burning and the conditions that spread disease. Official development finance (ODF) plays a key role in providing SWM waste infrastructure and services. International cooperation is al...

This document contains practical examples of good waste management practices in various municipalities in South Africa. The focus is specifically on good practice for domestic and commercial waste.The toolkit aims to cover good practices in each of the stages of waste management, from the point of collection through transport, storage and treatment to final disposal. The principles of the waste hi...

This paper addresses a major problem in international solid waste management, which is twofold: a lack of data, and a lack of consistent data to allow comparison between cities. The paper presents an indicator set for integrated sustainable waste management (ISWM) in cities both North and South, to allow benchmarking of a city’s performance, comparing cities and monitoring developments over time. ...

The open burning of waste continues to be a major waste management challenge for many African local governments. This challenge is primarily attributed to the lack of adequate waste management solutions, further exacerbated by a lack of knowledge about the environmental, social and economic disadvantages of burning waste.This guide is a tool designed for local government authorities to mitigate op...