Activity Description: Indoor air pollution (IAP) kills more than 1.6 million people each year - one person every 20 seconds -- and some two billion more are at risk. To address this problem, the Shell Foundation has committed US$ 10 million to tackle IAP through its Household Energy and Health Programme, branded as "Breathing Space."

According to Shell, the programme is funding, "pilot projects in six focus countries: India, Mexico, Guatemala, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Ghana. These projects aim to increase the demand for household energy solutions amongst poor households through social marketing, guaranteeing the supply of improved devices and fuels and providing consumer financing for poor households to purchase improved devices. A monitoring programme for stove performance, emissions, exposure and health assessment is also in place to provide standardised information on the results from all these projects.

"The Shell Foundation is negotiating partnerships to take forward successful pilots on a national scale and introducing complementary activities to the pilots such as consumer financing and social marketing. The Shell Foundation is also seeking partners in the private sector to mass-produce and market-test cooking devices and improved fuels."