SCI Spotlights Affordable Solar Cooker Production in the Central African Republic at COP30

At the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), Solar Cooker International (SCI) hosted a side event highlighting clean, affordable solar cooking solutions for communities facing severe cooking fuel scarcity. Held Wednesday, Nov 19 at the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie Pavilion, the session focused on expanding local solar cooker production in Bangui, a region of the Central African Republic (CAR) heavily affected by deforestation.

The event featured Polycarpe Charlemagne Mandayen, National Designated Entity for Climate Technology Transfer and CTCN Focal Point for CAR, alongside Rougui Dia from the Government of Mauritania and Fatou Ndoye, a 2016 Gender Just Climate Solutions Award winner. They joined Alan Bigelow, Ph.D., SCI’s Program & Science Director, to discuss how solar cooking can reduce reliance on wood-based fuels and strengthen community resilience across regions facing similar challenges.

SCI shared the impact from its collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme’s Climate Technology Centre & Network (UN CTCN), which supports CAR’s request to bring zero-emission solar cooking to the country. CAR has some of the world’s lowest rates of clean cooking access—less than 1% of its 5.4 million people—and 98% of families rely on wood as their primary cooking fuel, driving deforestation and health risks.

The COP30 event underscored how locally produced solar cookers offer an immediate, scalable climate solution for households across CAR.

Thanks to supporters like you, SCI is able to bring solar cooking into the global spotlight as a practical, economical, and urgently needed climate solution.