Professor Ed Brown, Research Director of the 含羞草视频-led Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) programme and Co-Director of the Sustainable Transitions: Energy, Environment and Resilience Centre (STEER), was among 50 leading experts, policymakers and practitioners invited to attend the event, which took place on 1 October. It was organised within the framework of the G20, an international forum composed of 19 countries and two regional bodies, currently chaired by Brazil.

The workshop centred on the Brazil G20 Presidency’s Strategic Roadmap for Clean Cooking, which outlines a plan to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030 and to meet the net-zero emissions target by 2050. The discussions also laid important groundwork ahead of COP30, which is set to take place in Brazil in November 2025.

Professor Brown took part in discussions on actionable strategies to accelerate industry and market development for clean cooking technologies. Key topics included industry-led measures to advance market enhancements, scale up collaborations, strengthen supply chains, boost investments, and foster innovation.

The Global Electric Cooking Coalition (GeCCo), a global coalition led by MECS, the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, Energising Development, and Sustainable Energy for All, was one of the expert interventions featured at the event.

The coalition, which launched at COP28, is working to significantly scale up access to electric cooking solutions worldwide.

Transitioning to clean cooking is crucial for a number of reasons. Currently, over a third of the world’s population cook using polluting fuels, leading to around four million premature deaths each year, primarily among women and children.

Traditional solid fuels - such as charcoal and wood - also contribute significantly to climate change, accounting for as much as 3% of total CO2 emissions each year. 

Professor Brown said: “Its really exciting to see our message - that electric appliances can provide millions of people with access to clean, modern, low carbon and flexible cooking - being taken up and acted upon at the highest international levels. It goes to show how  comprehensive and detailed research can deliver real change and impact.”

Professor Brown is a regular contributor to high-level discussions on affordable and clean energy. He recently joined the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) Technical Advisory Group, which unites high-level leaders and experts to track progress towards achieving SDG7.

Last month, MECS played a key role in the United Nations ENERGYNOW SDG7 Action Forum, which showcased best practice and strategies to address critical gaps in achieving sustainable energy for all.

Professor Brown highlighted notable examples from a draft report, Sustainable Scaling: Meeting the Clean Cooking Challenge in Africa, which  MECS has developed with the African Energy Commission (AFREC). Drawing on examples from MECS global partnerships, the report demonstrates the need to develop effective Multi-Fuel Clean Cooking strategies that can deliver sustainable access whilst simultaneously meeting climate and decarbonisation ambitions.

MECS is an eight-year research programme funded by UK Aid (FCDO) that’s laying the groundwork for an accelerated transition towards affordable low-carbon clean cooking alternatives.

It is part of the Centre for Sustainable Transitions: Energy, Environment and Resilience (STEER), a multi-million-pound research centre that collaborates with partners across the world -  from decision-makers to energy-poor communities - to make the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 a reality.