China joins Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

China on May 4, 2012 formally joined the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

China becomes the 33rd country to join the Alliance since its inception in September 2010, according to a statement issued by the Alliance.

“We welcome China’s leadership role in the Alliance,” says Radha Muthiah, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

Their participation is a testament to the country’s long-standing commitment to addressing this devastating health and environmental problem and a tremendous boost to a global effort to foster the universal adoption of clean cooking solutions by making them more accessible and affordable to those who most need them, Muthiah added.

The majority of China’s rural population, over 800 million people, relies on solid fuels (biomass and coal) for household cooking and heating and according to the World Health Organization, these account for more than 380,000 premature deaths annually.

By Ekow Quandzie