The last-mile push to reach universal clean cooking access in Latin America and the Caribbean

More than 10% of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) – or 70 million people – still lack access to clean cooking, according to the latest data, instead relying on harmful cooking practices including open fires, inefficient stoves, or harmful fuels to meet their daily needs. This disproportionately affects women and children, with indoor air pollution caused by these practices linked to over 80 000 premature deaths annually across the region.

The time spent gathering fuel, preparing, and tending to fires often limits opportunities for education and employment, particularly for women and girls who are more likely to take on these tasks. At the same time, the traditional use of biomass drives deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. The clean cooking access gap in the region significantly exceeds that of electricity – only around 3% of LAC’s population still lack electricity access – highlighting a major energy poverty and insecurity challenge that needs to be addressed.

In recent decades, LAC has made significant strides in expanding access to clean cooking solutions, but progress has slowed. Since 2000, the share of the population with access has risen by only 10 percentage points, reaching 90% cumulatively across the region. In contrast, countries like the People’s Republic of China (hereafter “China”) and Indonesia achieved similar gains – from 80% to 90% – within just five years. This slower pace reflects challenges such as limited public funding, a lack of policy instruments and challenges in extending infrastructure to provide ‘last-mile’ access. Fuel stacking is also prevalent in many rural communities across the region wanting to preserve traditional albeit harmful cooking methods. The region's poorest and most remote communities are often scattered and sparsely populated, particularly in rainforest and mountainous regions in South and Central America, making service delivery more complex. While only 5% of the urban population lacks access to clean cooking – primarily in informal settlements that could be reached with targeted programs – one-third of the rural population still lacks access. Greater efforts to expand distribution infrastructure and targeted end-user incentives can accelerate progress. Without this, the share of the population lacking access to clean cooking in LAC will decline only marginally, leaving around 57 million people without clean cooking by 2030.

Today, some countries still face sizable access gaps, while for others last-mile access provision is the main challenge. The most severe gaps in clean cooking access are in Haiti (95%), Guatemala (53%), Honduras (49%), Nicaragua (40%) and Paraguay (30%). In some of these regions, this is contributing to severe deforestation and biodiversity loss. Between 2001 and 2023, Haiti alone lost over 35% of its forest cover. While in Mexico the access gap is minor (14%), yet the country still accounts for the largest number of people without access in the region (~19 million). Smaller deficits persist in Peru (11%), Bolivia (10%) and Colombia (6%) and with around half of the countries in LAC having less than 5% of their populations without access including Brazil (3%). In these regions, challenges are mostly concentrated in remote areas. Indigenous populations, representing 8% of LAC, are disproportionally affected by the lack of access to clean cooking solutions, often due to socioeconomic challenges and geographic isolation – targeted solutions that consider cultural specificities are vital to bridging this gap.

The adoption of LPG and natural gas cooking contributed to most of the improvement in the region, aided by early infrastructure expansion, incentives and dedicated government programmes. Today 85% of the population primarily cooks either with LPG or natural gas – with the former representing the biggest share. Natural gas is commonly used in urban areas, where distribution networks reach most homes. LPG is used in both urban and rural areas, with countries like Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia successfully promoting it through dedicated public trust funds such as Fondo de Inclusión Social Energético (Energy Social Inclusion Fund – (FISE) in Peru and FONENERGIA in Colombia. In Brazil, the Vale-Gás programme (2001-2002, reintroduced in 2021) provided direct subsidies for LPG purchases to low-income families, enabling the expansion of this cooking technology across the country. During its G20 presidency in 2024, the Brazilian government announced the programme Gas para Todos (Gas for All) in a quest to address the remaining clean cooking gap by further expanding LPG coverage to 20 million users over the next 10 years. The Brazil G20 Presidency also launched the Clean Cooking Strategy, which advises governments and the private sector on key reforms and milestones to achieve universal access to clean cooking, and was developed with the support of the IEA and other partners.

The region is overall self-sufficient in natural gas but almost half of the LPG is imported. LPG net imports have doubled over the past two decades prompting some countries to implement policies to diversify cooking fuels. In countries where subsidies are in place for these fuels, the rising imports and subsidy burdens have weighed heavily on public finances. Programmes like Paraguays’s Sustitución de cocinas con Gas Licuado de Petróleo (GLP) por cocinas a inducción en área urbana included in the country’s climate change mitigation plan, Costa Rica's induction stove subsidy programme, or Ecuador’s Programa de Eficiencia Energética para la Cocción (Energy Efficiency Programme for Cooking) have aimed to provide targeted subsidies, financing, and education to increase the adoption of e-cooking. Today, only 2% of households use electric cooking means, mainly in urban areas. This is compared to other countries and regions like China and South Africa, which have around 25% and 85% of electric cooking respectively. Costa Rica, Paraguay and Honduras stand out as an exception, with around 50%, 20% and 15% of households respectively using electricity for their cooking needs thanks to relatively low electricity prices mostly driven by high renewable resources and the national policies, NDCs (Honduras) and national climate mitigation plans (Paraguay), which encourage e-cooking adoption. Improved Cookstoves (ICS) have also been deployed in hard-to-reach areas, with initiatives like Mexico’s ecological stoves programme, Honduras’ National Inclusive Strategy for the Adoption of Improved Cookstoves and Guatemala’s firewood efficiency project supported by the NAMA facility.

Many rural households that have already gained access to modern solutions still own and use traditional stove methods for preparing specific meals and may be resistant due to long-held cultural cooking practices. In mountainous regions, traditional cooking means also provide space heating. Reverting to traditional stoves is often in response to energy price fluctuations, income instability, maintenance challenges, or fuel shortages. This practice, known as fuel stacking, is prominent in many countries in the region such as Mexico, where over 50% of the population primarily cooking with fuelwood or charcoal, mostly located in rural areas, does it in combination with the use of LPG.

To achieve universal clean cooking access in LAC by 2030, every year 12 million people must transition to clean cooking solutions. Based on today’s policy settings, LPG and natural gas will remain the major source of cooking in the region, with LPG set to play a significant role in reaching rural household without access. However, to meet this goal a diverse mix of technologies needs to be deployed, with new policies driving the adoption of electric cooking devices, in around 15% of the households needing to gain access by 2030, but also substantially in homes with already access as some governments aim to reduce import burdens, release LPG supply to reach new households and advance against their climate objectives. Improved Cookstoves (ICS) should play a transitional role for around another 15% of the population to gain access by 2030, mainly the most remote and poorest households and prior to other cooking means reaching them with a price point they can afford. Other options like biodigesters and ethanol-based solutions could also play a role for around 10% of the remaining population to gain access – especially in rural areas with substantial agricultural residues to feed biodigesters and where there is already a vibrant bioethanol production, such as Brazil.

Expanding clean cooking infrastructure to remote communities remains the most critical challenge to providing universal access. Constrained public finances mean that governments may need to look to more efficient and targeted means to incentives households to adopt clean cooking while exploring state-led approaches and attract private sector players to these communities. Helping households afford clean cooking solutions is a key component. Targeted affordability and financing support are vital to address affordability. These include tax reduction for clean cooking fuels, stoves and components, targeted end-user incentives, regulations for partial refilling, support to new models as Pay-as-you-go (PayGo) LPG. Climate finance and carbon markets represent other potential tools to reduce the financing and affordability gaps. Initiatives such as the Mirador Project in Honduras highlight the potential of carbon financing to drive market adoption and scale.

The creation and strengthening of nationwide clean cooking strategies with a technology-inclusive approach, along with the enhancement of data and tracking initiatives, are also critical to achieving lasting success. Recently the Brazilian government announced the ongoing elaboration of a National Clean Cooking Policy (Política Nacional Para Promoção Do Cozimento Limpo), which would be the first comprehensive policy document addressing clean cooking in the region. To maximise impact, these strategies must be fully integrated into broader energy and development policies with dedicated and well-resourced agencies appointed to ensure accountability and drive progress. Tailored planning, supported by data and tools as well as GIS models as Onstove, can help policymakers address diverse community needs with the most suitable options. Aligning technologies with local and cultural practices is crucial for wider adoption. A notable example is the improved cooking planchas (griddles) in Central America, tailored to accommodate the baking of corn tortillas, addressing both practical and cultural needs. Educational campaigns and community-engagement activities highlighting health, economic and environmental benefits can further drive acceptance, ensuring clean cooking initiatives are both practical and culturally relevant.