On August 1, H.E. Sinava Souphanouvong, Vice Minister of Energy and Mines, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), signed an Emission Reductions Purchase Agreement (ERPA) with the World Bank. Through results-based finance, the Carbon Initiative for Development (Ci-Dev) will support the Lao PDR Clean Cookstove Initiative to transform the market for clean and efficient cookstoves in the country. This is the final program to be added to Ci-Dev’s portfolio. Ci-Dev has committed to purchase approximately $80 million in emission reductions from 13 World Bank funded energy access projects.

The Lao PDR Clean Cookstove Initiative aims to distribute 50,000 highly efficient cookstoves in three targeted provinces—Vientiane (capital), Savannakhet, and Champasack. The government will partner with a private sector company to implement the project on the ground.  

The highly efficient cookstoves use biomass pellets to significantly decrease emissions and household air pollution. This ‘stove and fuel’ approach reduces the harmful effects of traditional cooking methods, while also decreasing fuel use and cooking time. In particular, the project will measure the impact on women using these stoves. This data will be used to quantify the benefits of the new cookstoves to enable future results-based finance for clean cookstoves.

The payments for certified emission reductions (CERs) will be used to increase the affordability of the cookstoves, cover after-sales service, and raise awareness to support the local market. Ci-Dev will make payments for emission reductions up to 540,000 tons of CO2e.

The household air pollution created by the widespread use of traditional cookstoves in Lao PDR is a leading cause of premature death in the country. Drawing on lessons learned from past interventions, the project builds on efforts by the Government, with support from the World Bank, to create a sustainable market for high-quality, clean, efficient cookstoves.

(Photo credit: Hannah McDonald-Moniz)