Advancing Electric Cooking: Key Takeaways from the AQMx Guidance Launch and Webinar

AQMx, the Air Quality Management Exchange Platform powered by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) and the UNEP, recently launched its new sectoral guidance on Expanding Access to Electric Cooking (linked here: https://aqmx.org/content/aqmx-sectoral-guidance-expanding-access-e-cooking ).  AQMx serves as a one‑stop‑shop for practical guidance and technical information on air quality management, helping governments and practitioners access the guidance and tools they need to reduce air pollution and accelerate clean energy transitions. The new sectoral guidance based on e‑cooking was one of four new sectoral packages launched at the UNEA‑7, alongside guidance on alternatives to crop residue burning in agriculture, improving fuel quality in the road transport sector, and eliminating open waste burning in waste management. 

As part of cleaner household energy, electric cooking plays a central role in air quality management. As the AQMx guidance notes, “transitioning from polluting fuels to electric cooking sharply reduces PM2.5, black carbon, and methane emissions, accelerating progress toward health, energy, climate, and gender equity goals.” Crucially, the guidance helps any stakeholder to identify the steps to carry out a successful electric cooking transition, providing a structured pathway to overcome barriers. 

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To accompany the launch of the new sectoral guidance, the CCAC hosted an ‘AQMx Webinar’: AQMx Webinar Series: #1 New Sectoral Guidance on E-Cooking | Climate & Clean Air Coalition – focusing upon Household Energy in relation to electric cooking. Three representatives took the floor to build upon practical and hands on recommendations and experienced guidance on how electric cooking transitions can be achieved, aligning real-world examples and country-level studies where electric cooking has been a success. 

Forrest Robinette, Sectoral Expert on Household Energy at the CCAC, opened the session with a detailed walkthrough of the 10 step AQMx eCooking framework. As a core contributor to its development, he offered valuable insight into how the framework was designed to help practitioners identify missing elements, prioritise actions, and understand what resources are required to advance electric cooking in real time. Forrest emphasised that the framework is not only a technical guide but also a practical tool for navigating the complexities of electric cooking transitions — especially in contexts where progress has stalled. He also highlighted the platform’s extensive library of supporting materials, which brings structure to the process of implementing eCooking.  Resources include mapping and planning tools and  toolkits: for example, The Clean Cooking Planning Tool is a highly notable planning tool(linked here – Clean Cooking Planning Tool | AQMx) and the Journey Mapping Toolkit another highly notable toolkit linked here: Journey Mapping Toolkit | AQMx) . These resources are helping to unlock progress across each step of the eCooking transition. 

Alicia Butterfield, Global Manager of the Global Electric Cooking Coalition (GeCCo), followed with practical pathways for scaling electric cooking across both low and high electricity contexts. She reflected on GeCCo’s core areas of work — from supporting underutilised electrified households to identifying opportunities for strategic new grid connections and expanded the discussion to off-grid and rural communities which the Last Mile Climate initiative aims to achieve. Alicia also outlined current GeCCo and MECS activities aligned with the sectoral guidance. For example, the National eCooking Strategies launched in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Laos, and Sierra Leone directly support the policy integration step of the guidance, helping governments embed eCooking into national planning where gaps previously existed – a relevant report linked here: Integrating Clean Cooking into National Energy Access Planning: Tools and Considerations for Planning and Implementing eCooking – Modern Energy Cooking Services. Alicia closed with a grassroots success story — Kachione in Malawi, an organisation demonstrating a highly feasible off-grid eCooking system in local communities. She highlighted how closely this model aligns with the Malawi eCooking Roadmap and noted that with the new positioning of the AQMx sectoral guidance, engaging with government is a natural next step to help scale the impact of their work. Kachione is a strong example of how the guidance can support local innovators to connect with national systems and address the gaps that often limit wider adoption. 

Michelle Hallack, Senior Energy Specialist and Lead of the Clean Cooking Fund (CCF) at ESMAP, then presented the World Bank’s efforts to expand clean cooking access across households, productive uses, and social institutions. She outlined the CCF’s progress since 2019 and its incorporation into the World Bank’s M300 framework for 2025, aligning with ESMAP’s business plan to scale electric cooking access. Michelle shared the successful Uganda case, where 6,000 subsidised EPCs and an eCooking tariff — implemented through the Uganda Energy Credit Capitalisation Company — delivered significant user savings, with 42% of households qualifying for the discount. EPCs saved users an average of 13.3 hours per month, and charcoal based cooking time fell from 57 to 18 hours. Given that cooking is predominantly done by women (relevant report linked here by The World Bank and ESMAP: Advancing Gender-Equal Benefits in Clean Cooking Operations ).  Michelle emphasised the gender implications, the importance of consumer awareness, and the need for increased results-based financing to scale these impacts.  

In closing, Sandra Cavalieri, Hubs and Programme Manager of the CCAC, thanked speakers and participants, encouraging CCAC’s continued engagement with countries through GeCCo, including building a user community and deepening collaboration with World Bank projects as innovations under M300 advance. She also noted that the CCAC’s $2 million electric cooking challenge fund is now closed and assessing proposals to accelerate eCooking uptake across Africa — another mechanism designed to accelerate electric cooking adoption. 

On behalf of GeCCo, we extend our thanks to the CCAC team for organising such an insightful session, to Juliette Laurent for moderating, and to Sandra Cavalieri for her closing reflections. It was a pleasure to speak alongside Forrest Robinette and Michelle Hallack, on such an important and timely topic. The new AQMx guidance offers countries a clear way to understand what’s holding electric cooking transitions back — and the structured guidance to move from barriers to action. We look forward to continuing this conversation and to what comes next for electric cooking.