ISO guidelines on clean cookstoves could save lives, reduce injuries and pollution
With open fires and traditional cookstoves causing millions of injuries and deaths annually, a new document from ISO represents a major first step towards defining criteria for clean, efficient and safe cookstoves.
The ISO International Workshop Agreement IWA 11:2012, Guidelines for evaluating cookstove performance, is the first document of its type backed by international consensus.
According to the World Health Organization, exposure to smoke from traditional cookstoves and open fires causes two million premature deaths annually, with women and young children among the most affected. In addition, open fires and traditional cookstoves increase pressures on local environmental resources and contribute to climate change at the regional and global levels.