Elisa Derby
Senior Director, Climate Impacts and Standards
The Importance of Carbon Markets for Clean Cooking
The climate crisis will not be solved without clean cooking. Yet this global crisis remains critically underfunded. Carbon markets are a powerful tool to get more capital flowing in a cost-efficient way. This funding could significantly drive down costs for customers, enabling companies to grow faster and expand into new markets while delivering the widespread benefits of clean cooking.
Unlocking the transformative power of clean cooking carbon markets depends on:
- Clear rules and standards that establish a trusted and secure environment for investment.
- Accessible tools and reliable information that make it affordable and easy for businesses and other organizations to participate.
- A supportive network of partners, from local banks to technology providers.
CCA is contributing to all of these aspects to enable clean cooking carbon markets to grow and flourish.
Principles for Responsible Carbon Finance in Clean Cooking
To help improve market norms, instill confidence in clean cooking carbon markets, and incentivize investment, CCA launched the Principles for Responsible Carbon Finance in Clean Cooking. Focusing on integrity, transparency, fairness, and sustainability, the Principles serve to guide responsible conduct and enhance the confidence that buyers, investors, households, and governments have in clean cooking carbon markets. The Principles are the product of an extensive public process initiated by CCA in 2023, with input from hundreds of stakeholders engaged in climate finance and clean cooking.
Read the Principles and sign on
CLEAR Methodology and Companion Resources
The CCA-led Clean Cooking and Climate Consortium (4C) is leading a sector-wide effort to develop the Comprehensive Lowered Emissions Assessment and Reporting (CLEAR) Methodology for Cooking Energy Transitions. This is the first-ever methodology to be applicable to all common cooking transition scenarios, including metered and non-metered fuels, which will eliminate the need for multiple methodologies for cookstove carbon projects. This new methodology is intended to become the standard for cookstove projects under the Paris Agreement (Articles 6.2 and 6.4) and the voluntary carbon market. Once published, the methodology will be accompanied by a calculator tool and will be available through an interactive website that facilitates the calculations of emissions reductions.
See the latest updatesStandards and Testing
Consistent testing methods and reporting metrics, as defined by international standards, help consumers and suppliers alike navigate clean cooking carbon markets. With standardized protocols, regional testing and knowledge centers can evaluate and communicate how stoves and fuels perform against desired outcomes like improved efficiency and lower emissions. These results provide a valuable reference point for governments, manufacturers, standards bodies, and carbon buyers.
Learn moreClean Cooking Data Platform
CCA and partner SEI are in the process of developing an online platform that aggregates key input data for clean cooking carbon projects. The platform will provide free, easy-to-access, reliable, disaggregated data, on the parameters project developers need the most for clean cooking carbon projects. It will be an important project design resource for project developers, while also fostering rigor and consistency across the sector by making standardized data available to standard bodies and validation and verification bodies. Key parameters include grid and other emissions factors, fraction of non-renewable biomass, charcoal conversion rates, fuel consumption, primary stove and fuel use, and stove efficiencies. The platform will launch in March 2025.
Go to the 4C webpage to learn more
Carbon Market Data
To provide greater visibility of clean cooking carbon projects, CCA launched the Carbon Project Dashboard. The dashboard is the first free, interactive tool of registered, pipeline, and retired clean cooking carbon projects. Updated weekly with data provided by MSCI Carbon Markets, the Dashboard can be used to track cumulative issuances and retirements or to see the availability of clean cooking carbon credits, by region and by registry.
Visit the DashboardCarbon Finance Incubator
CCA prepares early-stage companies to engage strategically in carbon markets by providing learning opportunities, tailored technical assistance, expert mentorship, and connections to the broader clean cooking sector. The Incubator’s first cohort supported eight companies in West Africa.
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Innovation Challenges
CCA hosts competitions to solve specific problems that hinder investment in clean cooking carbon markets. Through its Innovation Challenge program, CCA provides winners with a prize as well as mentorship and technical assistance. In its first round, CCA partnered with the United Nations Capital Development Fund to hold a Digital Innovation Challenge, in which a team of judges selected four companies using digital solutions to bridge gaps between clean cooking and finance from commercial markets and carbon credits.
Learn more