Cookstove carbon offsets overstate climate benefit by 1,000%, study finds

Julieth Mollel using a cookstove at her home near Arusha, Tanzania. Some 3.2m people a year die prematurely from household air pollution caused by wood or paraffin stoves, which produce about 2% of greenhouse gas emissions and drive deforestation. Photograph: Cavan/Alamy

Clean cookstove projects, one of the most popular types of carbon-offset schemes, are probably overstating their beneficial impact on the climate by an average of 1,000%, according to a new study.

Every year, an estimated 3.2 million people die prematurely from household air pollution caused by cooking with smoky fuels such as wood, paraffin or kerosene, which produce about 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions.