It’s amazing how something as simple as a cookstove can transform lives and tackle climate change in one go.

With this project, the first one of its kind to gain Gold Standard certification, you’ll be helping people who live in poverty in rural Peru get access to clean, modern, cookstoves. These not only drastically reduce carbon emissions and help preserve forests, but can improve – and even save – lives.

What is the background?

In rural areas of Peru, around 30% of people – around 2.4 million families – still use an open fire or a traditional stove in their homes to prepare their food.

These fires need wood or biomass for fuel, which means cutting down trees, and they emit smoke and toxic gases that can cause serious respiratory illness. The victims are mostly women and children, as they spend the most time in the kitchens where they inhale the fumes.

How is this a solution?

The cookstoves that Qori Q’oncha distributes use less biomass energy, emit less CO2 and are cheaper to run. And, because the fumes they emit are evacuated via a chimney, they’re much better for people’s health.

Since the beginning of the Qori Q’oncha programme, close to 150,000 improved cookstoves have been installed in the homes of more than 700,000 people. The improved cookstoves radically reduce the amount of trees being cut in the area, reaching a total reduction of 1.8 million tCO2e.

What are the benefits?

It doesn’t stop at the environmental and health benefits. The cookstoves are made by local people using local materials, so they provide livelihoods and boost the local economy. The project is part of an initiative that helps communities to install dry toilets and set up the infrastructure to provide drinking water. Engaging and empowering local communities in this way will help ensure the project succeeds in the long-term.

Your contribution will be spent on keeping the project running over time, including monitoring, maintenance and getting more families into the programme.