Policies to Reduce Air Pollution from Household Heating

Residential heating with polluting fuels like kerosene, wood, and coal is common practice in many parts of the world. Heating with coal is most frequent in parts of Eastern Europe and China and woodstoves are often used in Northern Europe, North America, and highland regions worldwide. Polluting fuels contribute to household and ambient (outdoor) air pollution. Cooking and heating with polluting fuels contributes to millions of deaths every year. 

In 2014, the WHO introduced Guidelines for indoor air quality and household fuel combustion to encourage transitions to cleaner household fuels for residential cooking, heating, and lighting. To help countries achieve the Guidelines, WHO developed the Clean Household Energy Solutions Toolkit (CHEST), which includes a Household Energy Policy Repository highlighting examples of policies supporting cleaner fuels and technologies.