CAS

The climate mitigation initiative, which began in 2009, is supported by the Global Environment Facility’s small grants programme, administered by UNDP and implemented by India’s Centre for Environmental Education. The success of the initiative led to an additional grant in 2012, allowing the project to expand and reach more households. In addition, NGOs and community-based organizations have replicated the design of these cookstoves throughout five additional states of India (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, and Maharashtra).

The efficient cookstoves have, on average, reduced the wood intake by 40-55 percent. For these poor households, buying expensive wood was an additional burden; instead, they cut wood from the forests. Now they are able to cut less wood and use the dried drop leaves of the area’s abundant coconut trees, preserving the region’s forests. So far, 8,648 tonnes of firewood have been saved, preventing an equivalent of 15,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from being released into the atmosphere.