Some three billion people worldwide burn traditional biomass (e.g., wood, dung, crop residues) and coal indoors for home cooking and heating. The number of people using these fuels is expected to rise substantially by 2020. According to the World Health Organization, this widespread use results in the premature deaths of an estimated 1.5 million people each year from breathing elevated levels of indoor smoke, with women and children being most significantly affected.

Indoor air pollution from household energy ranks as the fourth leading health risk in poor developing countries. Breathing elevated levels of indoor smoke from home cooking and heating practices more than doubles a child's risk of serious respiratory infection and may also be associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes (e.g., stillbirth and low-weight babies).

In response to this challenge, founding governments and organizations launched the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in September 2002.

The Partnership's Mission

157 public and private organizations have joined the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air and are contributing their resources and expertise to improve health, livelihood, and quality of life by reducing exposure to indoor air pollution, primarily among women and children, from household energy use.

The Partnership is focusing on four priority areas: (i) Social/Behavioral Barriers; (ii) Local Market Development; (iii)Technology Design; (iv) Health Effects

Our Approach

Pilot Projects - Partners are funding projects in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to identify and demonstrate effective approaches for increasing the use of clean, reliable, affordable, efficient, and safe home cooking and heating practices that reduce people's exposure to indoor air pollution.

Design and Performance Guidelines - In collaboration with Engineers in Technical and Humanitarian Opportunities of Service, the Partnership is developing guidance for the design and performance of improved home cooking and heating technology. The guidance will assist a wide range of organizations which are developing and promoting improved fuels and stoves throughout the world.

Health and Exposure Assessment - In March 2004, the Partnership held a workshop with more than 30 leading health and indoor air pollution experts to refine protocols for health and exposure assessments. When completed in 2005, organizations around the world will have access to a catalogue of methods to document the impact of interventions.

Capacity Building - The Partnership is providing in-depth technical training in community outreach and education, stove development and performance, market development, and exposure monitoring. The Partnership is also supporting the direct exchange within regions of experiences among users/cooks, researchers, entrepreneurs, project implementers, and program directors.

Scale Up - The Partnership will evaluate successful approaches and models for conducting outreach and education, developing local businesses and markets, and monitoring exposure reductions. The goals are to integrate these components, and to scale up projects that promote improved cooking and heating practices that are more efficient, meet users' needs, reduce exposures, and can be produced locally.