BURN, the pioneering clean cookstove manufacturer, distributor, and carbon project developer, has been honored as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential Companies in the world.
BURN’s accolade comes in light of its exceptional global impact. The company has delivered 4.5 million stoves, positively affecting approximately 25.1 million lives. Moreover, its efforts have led to a reduction of 12.2 million tons of wood consumption and 21.7 million tons of carbon emissions.
This achievement is largely attributed to BURN’s commitment to leveraging carbon financing, which has allowed it to subsidize the cost of stoves by 60-100%. Over the past 18 months, BURN has provided around $60 million in discounts via carbon credits, enabling families to purchase $40 life-saving stoves for as little as $2. The company plans to extend an additional $110 million in carbon subsidies in the next 18 months.
Peter Scott, Founder and CEO of BURN, stated, “BURN exists for only one purpose, to save lives and forests. We believe the best way to do this is through the local design, manufacture, and distribution of best-in-class cooking appliances that include electric, LPG, and biomass stoves. Thanks to the hard work of our team, bringing these stoves to every household in Africa is now within reach.”
BURN’s inclusion in the TIME100 list highlights its role in addressing critical environmental and health challenges in Africa, where approximately 850 million people rely on wood or charcoal for cooking, leading to significant health and environmental damage.
At a recent summit in Paris, leaders from Togo, Tanzania, and Sierra Leone endorsed a $2 billion pledge to enhance clean cooking across the continent, acknowledging the formidable task ahead. BURN’s affordable electric cook stoves are seen as a pivotal part of the solution to combat deforestation and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and harmful soot.
TIME’s selection criteria for its 100 Most Influential Companies list include impact, innovation, ambition, and success. The magazine has also emphasized sustainability and climate action in this year’s list, launching the TIME CO2 Leadership Report to explore the intersection of business and climate. This year, twice as many companies were recognized for their sustainability leadership.
BURN’s achievements extend beyond environmental impact. Employing 3,500 people across nine African countries, half of whom are women, the company has also created thousands of additional opportunities through its extensive value chain, which includes sales, distribution, monitoring, and after-sales support.
TIME’s report on BURN’s recognition further noted, “Burn is making an ambitious bid to fight deforestation and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and health-damaging soot with one simple solution: making affordable electric cook stoves. To date, the Kenya-based company has sold over 4.5 million stoves, improving the health of millions of households across Africa.”
BURN was mentioned alongside other impactful organizations such as Food4Education, which has grown from feeding 25 schoolchildren in Nairobi to running Africa’s largest locally led school food program, feeding over 300,000 children daily. This year’s TIME100 list also features global giants like Google, Spiro, Anthropic, OpenAI, BlackRock, BMW, and Inter Miami FC, recognizing their diverse contributions to innovation and leadership across various sectors.
