The World Liquid Gas Association (WLGA) is participating in International Energy Agency (IEA) Energy Access and Clean Cooking Ministerial Meetings taking place from February 18 to 19, 2026, in Paris, highlighting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as the fastest scalable pathway to universal clean cooking access across the developing world.
The Ministerial High-Level Dialogue on Advancing Energy Access and Clean Cooking Solutions chaired by the Netherlands’ Deputy Prime Minister Sophie Hermans, serves as a critical milestone following the landmark 2024 Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa.
Since then:
- $470 million has been disbursed across 22 African countries to accelerate the deployment of clean cooking fuels, with $2.2 billion pledged.
- LPG has driven around 70% of global clean-cooking gains since 2010. It is abundant, affordable, and deployable today, unlike large-scale electrification and many alternative energy solutions.
- Approximately 900 million Africans still lack access to clean cooking fuels, resulting in severe health impacts (particularly for women and children), widespread deforestation, and substantial losses in economic productivity. Roughly four in five people in Africa and 90% of schools relying on firewood or charcoal for cooking,
James Rockall, Managing Director and CEO, World Liquid Gas Association, joins global energy leaders including Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director, IEA and the Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy, United States at the Ministerial, which serves as a prelude to the second Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa set to take place from July 9 to 10, 2026, in Nairobi, Kenya. Discussions will focus on identifying priority policy, financing, and delivery actions that may be translated into Government or private sector commitments, to be presented at the next Summit.
Rockall said: “Over 25 countries and 23 organisations are attending these Ministerial Meetings at the IEA underscoring the urgency of this foundational issue for Africa and the world.
“LPG has driven approximately 70% of global clean-cooking gains since 2010 and if we are to get serious about universal access to clean cooking solutions by 2030 then we need to move faster. If we align policy, regulation, and finance, we can move millions of households off traditions fuels within this decade – not in 2040. The industry stands ready to deliver. The question is whether policy will move at the same speed as the need.”
WLGA will convene the global LPG industry in Istanbul from October 12 to 16 under the theme ‘Resilience in a Changing World’ with Dr. Fatih Birol, set to deliver the keynote speech.
The IEA’s World Energy Outlook, released in November 2025, reveals that progress on clean cooking access has decelerated in recent years. While 100 million people gained access to clean cooking in 2023, this represents a decline from 120 million in 2019. Accelerating this rate of change is crucial, as household air pollution from traditional cooking methods causes premature deaths and transitioning to clean cooking solutions could reduce these fatalities by nearly two-thirds globally by 2040.
In the Global South LPG offers a clean and cost-effective energy solution to communities deprived of access to grid electricity. This transformative fuel humanises access to energy, creating substantial benefits for over a billion people, primarily women and girls, who reside in areas where reliance on unsustainable biomass and other hazardous fuels for cooking persists. This not only contributes to mitigating climate change but also enhances overall quality of life.