Contribution project

Improved cookstoves reduce deforestation in Uganda

Uganda, Countrywide

ClimatePartner ID: 1448

Project details

Improved cookstovesGet to know the project

These project activities replace conventional and less efficient cookstoves in Uganda with improved cookstoves. Three objectives are being pursued: reducing fuel consumption, improving the health of the population in Uganda, and reducing deforestation.

More than 90 percent of households in Uganda use firewood or charcoal for cooking. Therefore, cooking with wood is one of the main reasons for deforestation in the country. Since the improved cookstoves distributed within this programme are much more efficient, they use significantly less wood. This not only saves CO₂ emissions but also improves people's health by reducing indoor air pollution.

Project Standard

The project contributes to the the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals

"I love my SmartHome Cookstove because it takes less time to heat up, cooks a lot faster, and is more durable. But most importantly it does not produce black smoke!"

Nuurat23 years old mother from Kampala-Kibuli (peri-urban area), Uganda

"Easy to maintain compared to clay stoves, it does not produce black smoke and it's able to stay hot longer."

BettyICS user, Kampala, Uganda

"We are fighting energy poverty injustice with support from our clients to reduce emissions while simultaneously reducing poverty, supporting health outcomes, and protecting the local environment. Our founding team developed the first Gold Standard cookstove project over 13 years ago, and since then, we've continuously developed projects and technology that benefit the communities most vulnerable to climate risks whilst supporting them to decarbonise."

Rehema MbalamweziVP of Africa Operations for Project Developer

How improved cookstoves contribute to climate action

According to a statistic from the World Health Organization (WHO, 2024) around a third of the global population still relies on unsafe and environmentally harmful cooking methods. This includes, for example, cooking over open fires or using polluting cooking fuels, such as coal or kerosene. Improved cookstoves tackle this problem by using thermal energy more efficiently.

Depending on the model, an improved cookstove can reduce fuel consumption by up to 70 percent, which significantly saves CO₂ emissions and can lower the pressure on local forests as less firewood needs to be harvested.

Improved cookstove projects allow the distribution of the - often simple - devices made from metal or clay to households, small enterprises or community facilities. Especially for households, this has an impact beyond the CO₂ reduction: better indoor air quality decreases respiratory diseases and families can save time and money as less fuel is needed. Improved cookstoves projects in the ClimatePartner portfolio are registered with international standards.

The project aims to contribute to these United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Project facts

Climate projects generally fall into one of three groups: carbon reduction, carbon removal, or carbon avoidance. Carbon reduction projects reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by a specific activity (e.g., improved cookstoves). Carbon removal projects remove carbon from the atmosphere by sequestering it in carbon sinks (e.g., reforestation). Carbon avoidance projects avoid greenhouse gas emissions entering the atmosphere (e.g., protecting forests from deforestation with REDD+ projects).

All climate projects are based on international standards. They set processes and requirements which carbon projects must fulfill to be recognised as a proven method of reducing carbon emissions.

Climate projects demonstrably reduce, remove, or avoid greenhouse gas emissions. This is achieved with various technologies, ranging from nature-based solutions to social impact projects and renewable energies.

Most standards on the voluntary carbon market list their projects in public registries. The registries are used to store project data and track issuances and retirements of verified emission reductions. The registry ID can be used to identify projects in the standard registry.

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