In a powerful video message from COP30, Loughborough's Professor Ed Brown highlights one of the world’s most urgent but overlooked issues: the Global Clean Cooking Challenge. Did you know that 2.1 billion people still lack access to clean cooking fuels like electricity or gas, and many rely on wood, charcoal, dung, and in extreme cases, even burning plastics? Air pollution from cooking causes more deaths annually than malaria and dirty cooking fuels produce as much CO₂ as the entire global aviation industry, and they drive deforestation and generate 50% of global black carbon, a major driver of rising temperatures.
Professor Ed Brown explains why clean cooking isn’t just a household issue: it’s a global climate, health, and sustainability crisis. COP30 provided a vital platform to raise awareness, highlight the MECS programme and push for coordinated international action.