UAE: New initiative to provide people with sustainable energy for cooking

'Beyond Food' is a new initiative that aims to provide people in communities in low-resource settings around the world with crucial access to sustainable energy for cooking.

It was launched by the United Arab Emirates and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

They have collaborated with Nama Women Advancement Establishment to ensure its deployment across the world.

IRENA Director General Francesco La Camera, said: “Ensuring universal access to affordable modern energy for cooking is a major global challenge with current efforts lagging far behind the targets set forth in the global agenda for sustainable development by 2030. This partnership seeks to advance the financing needed to bolster the deployment of clean cooking solutions while putting the issue at the forefront of the global development agenda in this critical decade of action.”

Innovative solutions for electric cooking are increasingly viable, as well as commercially beneficial alternatives. Yet, while higher levels of investments flow towards renewable electricity projects, both on- and off-grid, the clean cooking sector attracts only a limited amount of international and local finance.

Speaking at the launch event, Dr Nawal Al-Hosany, the UAE’s Permanent Representative to IRENA, said: “Finding innovative ways to help people benefit from cleaner food systems, agriculture and livelihoods is essential to ensuring long-term sustainable human development. And I’m delighted to see that, with the launch of the Beyond Food initiative, the UAE is working with its international partners to do exactly that.”

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