|
UNHCR Clean Energy Challenge -
From Talk to Action
In December 2019, during the Global Refugee Forum, and mirroring the Sustainable Development Goal 7 on universal access to energy, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees issued an ambitious Clean Energy Challenge with the vision that: “All refugee settlements and nearby host communities will have access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy by 2030.”
An Action Group consisting of more than 30 partners, including member states, hosting governments, UN agencies and implementers, energy companies and researchers/technical supporters, was formed to work together on concrete actions in the five main components of the Challenge. For 2020, three working areas have been identified: 1) Data, 2) Sustainable finance and 3) Development of energy project pipelines. This work builds off and is aligned with activities facilitated under the GPA throughout 2018-2019.
The GPA Coordination Unit and the UNHCR Energy team are forming the Secretariat for the Challenge, working to coordinate and facilitate sector wide, systematic action through the Action Group, to scale up the ongoing GPA work and enable clean energy access for displaced and host communities. If you would like to join the Action Group, email Thomas Fohgrub and Ziad Ayad. Visit the Clean Energy Challenge webpage and energy fact sheet for further information.
|
|
|
COVID19 statement
In the context of COVID-19, humanitarian field operations are preparing for the realities of responding to the virus. In this light, the GPA partners have developed a Briefing Note, in order to communicate how providing clean and reliable energy in the COVID-19 response can benefit displaced and local communities in the short and long term. The note outlines the relevance of energy in the current context and provides considerations on how to integrate energy into the COVID-19 humanitarian response. The document will be expanded to provide technical guidance for field practitioners as a next step, both to be uploaded on the GPA COVID-19 response page.
Look out for more on our Humanitarian Energy Linkedin group, and reach out to energy@unitar.org if you would like to join the efforts.
|
|
|
|
23
Pre-Agreed Contractual Terms for Power Purchase Agreements and Leasing Agreements between UN Agencies and Energy Service Companies. Find out more in the report produced by Becker Büttner Held (BBH), in consultation with the UN and Private Sector, on behalf of GIZ and the GPA Coordination Unit. |
|
|
|
Spotlight on our partners
NORCAP & Innovation Norway ‘Cash for Energy’ seminar in Nairobi
On February 13th Innovation Norway’s Humanitarian Innovation Programme in collaboration with NORCAP/Norwegian Refugee Council welcomed businesses, humanitarians, experts and investors for a seminar on energy solutions and cash based interventions in humanitarian settings. It was held at Strathmore University, Nairobi.
Find out more about the program of the seminar.
|
|
|
The seminar was widely attended, with 80+ participants who discussed the following topics:
Experiences from cash-based interventions for energy projects in Uganda and how cash programming can be designed to increase energy projects in humanitarian settings;
Successful business models currently deployed in humanitarian settings were shared from Ikobriq, Sunbell, BBOXX, and Renewvia;
How access to clean cooking solutions or solar power in humanitarian settings can be supported with cash-based interventions; and
How to involve the private sector and financial institutions in cash and energy initiatives in the humanitarian space.
If you would like to receive the presentations of the seminar or know more about Innovation Norway’s Humanitarian Innovation Programme, please contact Emilie Skogvang.
If you would like to know more about NORCAP’s energy roster, please contact Borja Gomez Rojo.
|
|
|
|
News from the GPA Partnership
|
|
|
|
Workshop in Djibouti – Energy and Livelihoods for Refugees
An Energy and Livelihoods Workshop took place in Djibouti at the end of February 2020, co-hosted by UNITAR (GPA Coordination Unit) and UNDP Djibouti, and funded by the German Foreign Office, UNDP Djibouti and UNDP’s Green Energy Team.
The workshop was attended by Government Departments, UN Agencies, International and National Humanitarian and Development NGOs and financiers. The objectives of the Workshop were to: develop comprehensive energy access proposals for refugee and host communities; enhance livelihood and self-reliance opportunities through access to capital and training for forcibly displaced persons and host communities, and reduce energy costs for humanitarian organisations, while reducing emissions and reliance on fossil fuels.
The GPA Coordination Unit will work across partners towards drafting multi-agency proposals for the implementation of the agreed actions. Please contact Mark Gibson if you’d like to learn more about a specific area of work. |
|
GPA SG Joint activities work plan
The GPA Partnership (Steering Group, Coordination Unit, and network partners) has outlined our principal activities for 2020 and 2021 in a strategic work plan, based on the GPA Framework recommendations and emerging energy activities for humanitarian response. These activities are outlined to support the network of practitioners to share knowledge, access resources and tools, and speak with a common voice to champion scaled up action on energy access for displaced communities and sustainable energy use by humanitarian operations.
Check out the work plan online here, and reach out to the GPA Coordination Unit by contacting Mark Gibson if you’d like to learn more about a specific area of work.
Stay up to date with ongoing GPA work, here on our website. |
|
|
Webinars
Our previous webinar series concluded with a discussion around Energy Efficiency and Designing for Sustainability in Humanitarian Response. The recording is online here.
Look out in early May as we start our second webinar series with ICRC and Energypedia, starting with a dialogue on energy supply for humanitarian health facilities. Registration will be online in the webinar series portal. |
|
Rwanda Field trip for solar companies
On March 10th, UNHCR Rwanda together with Power Africa and the Global Plan of Action for Sustainable Energy Solutions in Situations of Displacement (GPA), organized a field trip for solar companies to Kiziba refugee camp in Rwanda, as a follow up to the June 2019 Market-based Approaches to Electricity Access for Refugees workshop hosted by Power Africa, UNHCR Rwanda and the GPA.
See the full blog post on the GPA website. |
|
Standard Contract Clauses for Buying Energy as a Service for Humanitarian Agencies
Humanitarian agencies recognise the need to shift their dependence from fossil fuels and transition to more sustainable approaches to generating and consuming electricity, but face systemic barriers that inhibit switching to renewable energy solutions to power humanitarian services and operations.
Through our work on Innovative Finance, the GPA Coordination Unit facilitated a workshop series to identify practical ways to unlock this impasse. One of the recommendations from the workshops was to develop standard contractual clauses for power purchase agreements and leasing agreements. With support from GIZ, Becker Büttner Held undertook a study, where UN agencies and private sector entities identified potential contractual pinch points and co-designed contractual clauses that incorporated solutions that both parties could agree upon. The full report can be read here and a summary blog on our innovative finance work can be read here. |
Stay tuned for our complimentary work on developing an instrumented-risking tool to enable private and public investment in the decarbonisation of humanitarian energy infrastructure.
|
|
|
|
What's new in humanitarian energy?
|
|
|
Humanitarian Energy Trainings in 2020
The Mercy Corps and Women’s Refugee Commission EEMRG programme is rolling out a training programme in Uganda, Jordan and Afghanistan to presents practical tools and approaches to address energy access gaps, rooted in clear principles of gender equity, participation and sustainability. Training courses that were planned for March and April 2020 are postponed until further clarity on the COVID-19 situation. For more information and to stay updated on the training opportunities, contact Dina Zaydani. |
|
|
Innovation Norway Funding
Call for Proposals from Innovation Norway's 'Humanitarian Innovation Program' are open. UN agencies and Norwegian humanitarian organisations are the lead applicants but the focus is on private partnerships. If you have an idea either from the private or humanitarian sector and are looking for partners to apply, reach out! |
|
|
2019 Humanitarian Energy Conference - Final Report
Last year, humanitarian energy practitioners joined the first Humanitarian Energy Conference to share experiences and advance collective sector knowledge. The full conference report was released, and is online here. Discussions on the next sector conference are underway, aiming to convene practitioners at a follow up conference in 2021. |
|
|
New possibilities for clean cooking in rural Africa
UNEP DTU Partnership is collaborating with start-up company 'ServedOnSalt', based at the DTU Skylab in Copenhagen, who have developed a prototype stove using a thermochemical battery that can store heat generated from solar energy for clean cooking in Africa. ServedOnSalt and UNEP DTU have partnered with UNHCR, through a grant through the MECS Programme, to explore the feasibility of rolling out such technology for use in some of the densely-populated refugee camps in rural Africa where fuelwood collection is a major protect risk.
More on the project, online here. |
|
|
Solar PV mini-grids for humanitarian operations – analysis from Rwanda
New research published from Imperial College London, focused on energy infrastructure in Rwandan refugee camps. This briefing note considers how clean energy solutions can be used by humanitarian organisations to both reduce the cost and environmental footprint of their operations and promote the resilience and independence of displaced communities.
Read a the briefing summary in our Latest news and find the full briefing paper online here.
|
|
|
Off-grid solar systems support the resilience of Syrian households
More than 7.6 million people in Syria have been displaced from their home due to the ongoing crisis. For rural households especially, this means living with decreased or no access to electricity and its associated food security and livelihood opportunities. In response to these challenges, FAO implemented solar PV systems to power egg-incubators, supporting families who need access to energy for poultry farming. Another example of how off-grid electricity can support the resilience of displaced communities. The full readout is online here. |
|
|
Can Renewable Energy Credits be a new innovative financing mechanism for Humanitarian Energy?
Our colleagues from Energy Peace Partners have deployed the first pilot project financed by the P-REC (Peace Renewable Energy Credit). The project will enable street lighting for a community in Goma, powered by a commercially financed, 1.3 MW mini-grid system. Could the P-REC be a viable financing option for electrification efforts in displacement settings? We aim to explore this question through ongoing GPA Innovative Finance work.
Read more about the pilot project and work of Energy Peace Partners online here. |
|
|
The Night a Refugee Camp became a City – Stories from Solar Street Lighting in Rwandan Refugee Camps
Updates from the Renewable Energy for Refugees programme around the transformational impact of solar street lighting from experiences in Rwandan refugee camps Nyabiheke, Kigeme and Gihembe. Read more online here. |
|
|
GPA Working Area Update: Capacity Building and Data and Evidence
|
|
|
Data Working Group Call
For our next working group call in July 2020, we invite interested speakers to contribute on the topic of: Quantitative data for market-based approaches in humanitarian settings. Academics or practitioners who would like to present their data findings and quantitative results would be welcome to present during the call and receive feedback from the working group members. For information, the previous working group call on humanitarian agency data and indicators is available online here. |
|
|
Technical Expertise and Capacity Building – Share your needs
What skills and capacities does your organization need to increase action on sustainable energy in your programming and operations? The GPA working group on Technical Expertise and Capacity Building would like to understand gaps in skills and capacities of humanitarian practitioners that impede sustainable energy delivery in humanitarian response.
Please inform us of your needs through taking this survey.
The feedback will inform the design of tailored training experiences and guidance that support humanitarian organisations to develop staff competencies and identify external expertise where necessary.
|
|
|
Drafting common energy indicators for the humanitarian sector
The Data and Evidence working group members are also currently working on an indicator mapping for the humanitarian energy sector, seeking to understand the different ways of measuring and collecting information on energy across refugee settings. If you have an example survey or set of energy indicators for project design and reporting, please reach out and share these with us to inform the development of the sector. Please contact Sarah Rosenberg-Jansen and Iwona Bisaga for more information on either of these topics. |
|
|
What is the
Global Plan Of Action?
|
|
|
|
The Global Plan of Action for Sustainable Energy in Situations of Displacement (GPA) strives to remove barriers to energy access in humanitarian settings. The GPA framework document provides a set of recommendations for concrete actions, aiming to ensure that all refugees and displaced people enjoy safe access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy services by 2030. It promotes and contributes to the humanitarian sector's transition to renewable energy, which will increase efficiency and reduce costs and carbon emissions. Hosted by UNITAR, the GPA Coordination Unit galvanises collective action towards the GPA's realization. Our work in 2020 is outlined through the partnership strategic workplan, available online here.
|
|
|
Collaboration -
Share your work
through the GPA
|
We are taking stock of the capacities, interests and commitments of the GPA Network. If you would like to share your work (including ongoing projects, best practices, existing solutions, etc) with the GPA Secretariat, please take this survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GPA-2020.
|
|
Follow #HumanitarianEnergy on Twitter
for updates on our and our partners’ work.
|
|
|
|
|
|
