CCA Launches NDC Tracker to Map Global Climate Commitments on Cooking
New tool reveals where and how countries are integrating clean cooking into their national climate plans
WASHINGTON, DC, 28 May 2026 — The Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) today launched the Clean Cooking NDC Tracker, a publicly available resource that documents which low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) include clean cooking measures in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
An NDC is a formal plan submitted by a country to the United Nations, outlining its commitments to fight climate change through measures such as reducing carbon emissions, transitioning to cleaner energy sources, or adapting to climate impacts. Countries are required to update their NDCs every five years, making them a primary mechanism through which governments translate global climate goals into national policy and investment priorities.
Cooking is a significant, but often overlooked, source of climate-harming emissions. Nearly 2.1 billion people worldwide rely on inefficient open fires or stoves that burn polluting fuels like wood, charcoal, and kerosene to cook their food. Cooking this way generates super pollutants such as black carbon and methane, as well as other greenhouse gases such as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. At the same time, reliance on biomass fuels puts pressure on forests. Clean cooking is vital to combating global climate change, reducing environmental degradation, and addressing health concerns such as air pollution, making it a natural fit for national climate planning.
CCA’s NDC Tracker compiles all clean cooking measures identified within the active NDCs of 131 LMICs. As of April 2026:
- 98 countries (75%) include at least one clean cooking-specific or broad household energy measure in their NDC.
- 66 countries include at least one explicit clean cooking measure. An example of such a measure could be Available Tools“aiming to increase the share of clean energy for cooking from 15% to 65% in 2030.”
- 32 countries include only implicit clean cooking measures, such as broad household energy measures that could apply to either cooking, lighting, and/or heating.
- South Asia has the highest commitment level to clean cooking in NDCs, with 100% of LMICs including clean cooking-specific or broader household energy measures in their NDCs.
- For Sub-Saharan Africa, where the need for clean cooking is the most concentrated, the NDC commitment level is 98%.
“NDCs are one of the most powerful levers governments have to mobilize finance and political will for clean cooking,” said Elisa Derby, Senior Director of Climate Impacts and Standards at CCA. “This tracker makes it possible, for the first time, to easily see the full picture of where clean cooking sits in the global climate agenda and where advocacy and investment are most urgently needed.”
Governments, donors, NGOs, and the private sector all need clear, reliable data to make the case for clean cooking as a climate priority. By centralizing information on clean cooking commitments across 131 countries, including the conditionality of those commitments and associated financial needs, the NDC Tracker gives stakeholders a common evidence base for advocacy, investment, and accountability.
The Clean Cooking NDC Tracker is available now at cleancooking.org/ndc-tracker.
