Access to clean cooking solutions is not only a matter of technology or an economic challenge, but above all, a social, health, and environmental imperative. In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 50 million people still rely on firewood for cooking. Beyond being an equity issue, this practice places tremendous pressure on public health and ecosystems.
According to a prospective analysis by OLADE in the eleventh Technical Note “Outlook on Clean Cooking in Latin America and the Caribbean”, in the next decade, 62 million tons of firewood used annually should be replaced with electricity, liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas, and biogas. This transition would require 11 TWh of energy and an investment of around 7.7 billion dollars. Although significant, this investment is necessary and justified by the benefits it will bring: improving quality of life, reducing the incidence of respiratory diseases, and fulfilling climate and sustainable development commitments.
The challenges are by no means minor. Achieving universal access to clean cooking for 95% of the global population will depend on solid regulatory frameworks, financing, technological advancements, and inclusive public policies. The integration of civil society, the private sector, and multilateral organizations will be key actors to ensure that solutions are adapted to the cultural, economic, and territorial contexts of each community.
The region has the opportunity to become an international benchmark, demonstrating that the energy transition is not only about decarbonizing energy matrices or promoting the expansion of renewable energies, but also about bringing tangible change to the daily reality of millions of households. For us, this commitment is an integral part of the vision of a just, inclusive, and sustainable energy transformation.
There can be no just transition while gaps persist that condemn millions of families to inefficient and polluting solutions. Energy is a basic right of all human beings, and only through collective and cooperative effort can we secure a sustainable energy future for Latin America and the Caribbean.
