Clean Household Energy Solutions Toolkit (CHEST)

The WHO Clean Household Energy Solutions Toolkit (CHEST) provides tools that countries and programmes can use to develop policy action plans for expanding clean household energy access and use. Created based on expert input, CHEST is intended to help professionals and policy-makers in the health and other sectors implement the recommendations found in the WHO Guidelines on indoor air quality: household fuel combustion. By providing resources to guide the energy planning process, CHEST enables policy-makers to design programmes that will increase access to clean and safe household energy, ensuring that these deliver genuine and substantial health gains. CHEST facilitates the design of policies that promote the adoption of clean household energy at local, programmatic, or national levels.

CHEST includes six modules that provide resources for mapping key stakeholders; conducting a situational assessment; identifying technological and policy intervention options; setting standards; performing monitoring and evaluation; engaging the health community; and improving communications and raising awareness.

Some of the specific tools included in these modules are models for estimating emissions, health impacts and cost-effectiveness of household energy interventions; survey questions to track household energy use; databases with information on the fuels and technologies used in homes and their health impacts; training materials; and communication strategies.

Logo CHEST
Clean Cooking Gas Stove
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Happy Woman cooking with gas
© Credits

Overview video on the Clean Household Energy Solutions Toolkit

available in six different languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish).

Modules

Provides the WHO definition of clean, transitional, and polluting fuels and technologies used for cooking, heating, and lighting. WHO does not advocate for certain types of fuels or technologies over others, except to support the use of the cleanest possible options in each setting.

Resources

Related health topics

Related fact sheets

Related teams