ICS | Improved Cookstoves in Laos

The Laos Improved Cookstove Programme is developing a market for cleaner, more environmentally friendly cooking options in Laos. Local producers receive training, while customers are saving on fuel and breathing cleaner air.

New stove designs and market models are opening doors for cleaner, more environmentally friendly cooking options in Southeast Asia.
In Laos, most people cook with wood and charcoal. The result: carbon emissions, air pollution, and a significant loss of forest cover over the past two decades.

The Laos Improved Cookstove Programme is countering this by building a more inclusive market around healthier, affordable technology. By extending market participation to rural areas, improved cook­stoves become a powerful sustainable development tool.

Through this programme, local producers receive training and are now making more stoves that are more efficient. Their customers are saving on fuel costs and breathing cleaner air. The improved cookstove programme has also supported the cre­ation of three testing agencies to ensure stoves are of high quality.

This project is aiming to sell 420,000 improved stoves over an eight-year period with the support of carbon finance.