Larissa Lockwood, Director of Policy & Campaigns at Global Action Plan: “Homes with gas stoves can have nitrogen dioxide levels up to 400% higher than those without – this is the same type of toxic air pollution that comes from car exhausts and is linked to a range of health conditions including lung and heart disease. Transitioning from gas to electric cooking across the UK is a win-win: it will benefit public health through improving indoor air quality, as well as reducing household emissions and energy use. Today we are launching a robust policy roadmap that demonstrates how the UK can transition from gas to electric cooking by 2035, in line with Government home decarbonisation commitments and Climate Change Committee recommendations. We urge policymakers to ensure that UK households are not left behind in the transition to cleaner, safer, and more efficient cooking methods.”

Nicole Kearney, CLASP Director, Europe said: “As governments across Europe move to decarbonise heating, gas cooking remains a blind spot, a neglected source of indoor air pollution that keeps homes locked into using fossil fuels. The solution to bridge these gaps and make cleaner, healthier, and more efficient electric cooking accessible to everyone is available and ready for implementation. The UK Government should seize this opportunity and set a powerful precedent by championing an equitable transition.”

Manchester MP Afzal Khan, host of the parliamentary event, said: “Air pollution from gas cooking is linked to a range of health problems including asthma, lung and heart disease. I’m pleased to see Manchester leading locally on the transition from gas to electric cooking in social housing and demonstrating the value of electric cooking as a solution to improve air quality, boost public health, cut emissions and reduce household energy bills in the long run. We need to see action on a national scale to ensure that cooking isn’t left out of home decarbonisation efforts. Global Action Plan’s new report provides a comprehensive pathway to transition to electric cooking across the UK, and I urge the Government to review the recommendations set out within it.”

Quarterly polling by Opinium for Global Action Plan of 2,000 British adults shows that public awareness of gas cooking pollution and concern over its health, safety and environmental impacts is relatively low but has been steadily rising for years.

Some 2% of UK carbon dioxide emissions come from cooking. Phasing-out gas hobs would cut the equivalent of all of Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Sheffield’s greenhouse gas emissions combined, CLASP calculates. The government had planned to phase-out gas boilers by 2035, but has so far overlooked the need to transition away from fossil fuel cooking appliances.

Ends

Notes

[1] Burning gas in the kitchen produces levels of indoor air pollution that exceed legal outdoor limits. The World Health Organization daily limit value for nitrogen dioxide exposure was broken in about half (55%) of British homes using gas hobs and/or gas ovens measured under normal living conditions by a Dutch scientific institute. Pollution spikes lasted several hours and were more intense the longer the cooking time. No breaches in homes using electric appliances were recorded. The same institute estimated that 557,326 British children report asthma symptoms. Spanish scientists built on the Dutch research to estimate the number of premature deaths in the UK from gas cookers.

[2] Public awareness of the risks has been growing steadily and gas cooker sales are slowly declining. But they still make up around 40% of sales and gas hobs are installed in around half of all UK homes. Government polling in 2023 found that two thirds of those asked intend to replace their gas hobs. The Government recognises air pollution as the biggest environmental health risk in the UK. Cookers and heaters are the main sources of air pollution inside homes that use gas. Despite this, there is currently no legislation or policy framework in place to warn UK consumers about the risks or encourage a shift to cleaner alternatives. Unless that changes, GAP estimates that well over 1.5 million new gas hobs will be installed in this parliamentary term, based on existing sales data. Gas cookers tend to be used for around 19 years, experts say, prolonging exposure to indoor air pollution.

[3] Residents in ten Southway Housing Trust properties agreed to have their gas ovens and hobs replaced with induction hobs and electric ovens in early 2025. Some of the gas cookers had been installed decades earlier. Interviews were conducted with all ten households one week before the installation and with seven that remained in the pilot one week after the retrofit. Of these, five said the transition was very easy and one said it was easy. Before the switch, only one household thought induction was easy to use. The project was supported by Beko, B&Q and Electrolux.

Contacts

• Global Action Plan press office press@globalactionplan.org.uk
• CLASP Director, Europe Nicole Kearney (EN) +44 75 4486 5924
• CLASP Senior Communications Associate Païline Caroni (EN, FR) +32 473 127 674
• CLASP Communications Consultant Jack Hunter: jack@fthe.fr +33 7 54 54 35 48

Global Action Plan mobilises people and organisations to take action on the systems that harm us and our planet. We are an environmental charity focused on issues where the connection between the health of people and our planet is most tangible. Our current focus issues are air pollution, big tech, and the education system.

CLASP is the leading global authority on efficient appliances’ role in fighting climate change and improving people’s lives. An international NGO with 25 years of expertise and offices on four continents, CLASP collaborates with policymakers, industry leaders, and other experts to create a more sustainable future for people and the planet. CLASP and our partners are dedicated to solving the world’s most pressing, interconnected crises: the climate emergency, poverty, inequality, and access to energy.

The thwack of the gavel preceded the thunder of applause as the audience cheered the universal win for people and planet: our future will be lit only by LEDs.  In 2023, representatives from 147 countries agreed to phase out florescent lighting globally and completely by 2027. This will avoid nearly 3 gigatons of CO2 through 2050. The decision was taken at the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP-5) in Geneva.

Since 2020, CLASP’s Clean Lighting Coalition (CLiC) was a campaign created to drive universal access to efficient, safe lighting. CLiC was powered by experts delivering undeniable data about the risks of fluorescent lighting and case studies about the financial and climate emission benefits of efficient LEDs. Integral to the success of the campaign were the advocacy specialists who built the coalition and presented the proof to governments and the media.

The problem with fluorescent lighting

Outdated fluorescents persisting on international markets are toxic and pose a health risk because they contain mercury. They are also inefficient, leading to higher energy bills. LEDs are a safer lighting solution and are twice as efficient – saving money, human and environmental health, and lowering climate emissions.

Global lighting change led by Africa

African policy leaders recognized the feasibility of a global LED transition. In addition to the global climate impacts, ending the production of fluorescents will protect the continent from the toxic, costly and outdated lamps exported to African markets by developed countries unable to sell them domestically.

Armed with sector leading data and technical support from CLiC and partners, Africa region lighting champions led the charge toward the global climate win.  In 2022 and 2023, the Africa Group at the United Nations representing 54 African Member States, proposed amendments to the Minamata Convention on Mercury calling on the international community to say farewell to fluorescents.

“Policymakers in Africa led the charge on this campaign, rooted in deep-seeded concerns about the challenges of toxic lamp disposal. Turns out, this was a concern shared by many countries around the globe,” recalls CLiC campaign lead and CLASP Senior Director Ana Maria Carreño. “African leaders’ efforts to raise awareness about the risks of fluorescents and build consensus on a solution via Minamata led to decisive global action protecting people and planet.”

CLiC: The power of international solidarity

For the last three years, CLiC collaborated with over 300 partners spanning every corner of the globe to make the case for LEDs. From civil society to government to industry, from climate to health to waste management, CLiC coordinated an extensive partner network to spotlight the lasting, positive impacts of a clean lighting transition.

“The world is finally able to say, ‘Farewell to Fluorescents’ due in large part to the hundreds of organizations and policy leaders that came together in pursuit of a safer, healthier future for all via the Clean Lighting Coalition,” observed Elena Lymberidi-Settimo, International co-coordinator of the Zero Mercury Working Group and Policy Manager at the European Environmental Bureau. ”The campaign’s success spotlights how extensive networks of trusted and diverse partners are key for making rapid, meaningful change; and we are happy to have been a part of it.”

A people and planet win that can be replicated

The success of the CLiC campaign provides a glint of optimism in our worsening climate crisis: meaningful and substantial global change IS possible.

“Being directly involved in the Clean Lighting Coalition was one of the greatest experiences of my professional life,” commented Nithi Nesadurai, CLiC team member and director at Climate Action Network Southeast Asia. “CLASP conducted a flawless strategic and tactical campaign which led to success with the decision in November 2023 at the Minamata Convention on Mercury to eliminate fluorescent lamps by 2027. I have gone on record to say this is probably the most successful global environmental campaign, given the speed in which the goal was achieved.”

The full and lasting benefits of a clean lighting future rely on the commitment of governments to follow through and implement the terms of the agreement in a timely manner. The research is clear, and the global community agrees: an LED transition is feasible for every market. Although the CLiC campaign has concluded, our lighting experts at CLASP continue to offer technical support to countries working to advance towards their LED future.