The effort to lower the world’s carbon footprint has seen a huge advancement with the $200 million investment in clean cooking in 2022.
The development is greater than in any year since the Clean Cooking Coalition (CCA) started tracking investment in 2014. This information was presented in the CCA’s 2022 Annual Report.
According to Dymphna van der Lans, Chief Executive Officer of CCA, “after enduring years of uncertainty through the epidemic, clean cooking enterprises are now witnessing record amounts of investment—about $200 million in 2022.
According to her, $6 million from the Spark+ Africa Fund, which is funded by CCA and is the first impact fund to finance clean and contemporary cooking solutions in underdeveloped markets, was distributed as part of last year’s investments.
Carbon finance is another another promising area with enormous potential to change the industry, she said. The carbon finance prospects are only available to the clean cooking ecosystem if fair regulations and norms are in place, and if technologies and market insights make markets run more smoothly.
The Responsible Carbon Finance Initiative, newly launched by CCA, intends to enhance program quality and increase carbon financing alternatives and the advantages they can offer to the broadest audience.
The innovation that clean cooking businesses are doing to make their goods more effective, accessible, and user-friendly was more prominent than ever in 2022.
“CCA’s work with companies has supported projects ranging from improving gender-inclusive practices, to better understanding production costs,” the CEO said.
Regarding the factors influencing investment in the industry, CCA assisted in the creation and introduction of the Spark+ Africa Fund, the first impact fund in the world to finance clean and contemporary cooking methods. The fund’s inaugural closing brought in $54 million, and it has already invested $4 million in Kenyan companies BURN Manufacturing and Sumac Microfinance Bank.
In order to encourage financial innovation and investment in African and Asian markets, the Alliance has enhanced access to finance by establishing new strategic agreements with the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the African Guarantee Fund. The partnerships’ main goal is to further boost the flow of public funding as well as more recent types of financing for the environment and social effect to clean cooking businesses.
CCA and Modern Energy Cooking Services created creative case studies of results-based financing (RBF) efforts in the clean cooking industry for a study that was published in the fourth quarter of 2022. These case studies could aid program designers in creating future RBF programs.
She stated, “I am grateful that the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) and our partners have contributed to the phenomenal growth of the clean cooking ecosystem.
The CEO believes that this year is off to a bright start. “I am sure of even greater development in 2023,” the author says, “as the CCA’s Systems Strategy projects continue to mature and we forge closer linkages with neighboring sectors, including for climate action and nature-based solutions.”
Leave a comment