Energy Access and Forced Migration

Owen Grafham

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781138543386
• eBook ISBN: 9781351006927
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Ecology
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This edited collection brings together a selection of expert authors and draws on a wide range of case studies, geographies, and perspectives to explore the links between forced migration and energy access.

This book addresses the paucity of academic study on how energy is delivered to the millions of people currently forcibly displaced. The contributions throughout assess the current energy governance regimes, models of delivery, and innovative solutions that are dictating how energy is – and can be – provided to those who have been forced to move away from their homes. By bringing together author-teams of practitioners, academics, businesses, and policy makers, this collection encourages interdisciplinary dialogue about the best way of approaching energy provision for the forcibly displaced.

This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy access and policy, environmental justice and equity, and migration and refugee studies.

Part 1
Framing energy-access and forced migration

1 Leaving no one behind

An overview of governance of the humanitarian energy sector

Sarah Rosenberg-Jansen

Introduction

Understanding humanitarian energy issues requires consideration of the structures of governance, institutions and practices involved in energy for displacement. This chapter will provide a brief overview of the emergence of the humanitarian energy sector, including how institutions such as UNHCR, global bodies, funders and implementing partners function, and the international and local levels at which governance and ideas are being shared. The aim of chapter is provide an overview of the governance and policies within humanitarian energy, while opening up discussion on key challenges, barriers and solutions.

The issue of energy in displaced settings is relatively new, with the first substantive research, policy and programmatic action in this area only starting in 2014 (Gunning, 2014 and Lehne et al., 2016). Prior to this, there was a lack of detailed consideration of energy needs within displaced settings, with most previous research focusing on cooking practices in situations of displacement and very few substantial on-the-ground programmes.

Humanitarian energy can be seen as a point of intersection between two sectors: decentralised energy for development and humanitarian response. The energy access sector works over the long-term in developing countries – often focusing on decentralised sustainable energy and off-grid solutions and working at the national and local levels (Practical Action, 2018 and SEforALL, 2018). The humanitarian response sector, however, is globally led by UN bodies, large NGOs, and emergency responders to focus on short-term crisis such as conflicts and natural disasters. Neither of these sectors has fully embraced or embedded energy for displaced people, and as a result there are often frictions (or a stark lack of communication) between emergency response institutions and longer-term development agencies in emerging projects and policies.

Several policy initiatives are now trying to bring the learning and systems of these two worlds together to effectively provide energy within humanitarian contexts (Lahn and Grafham, 2015; Grafham et al., 2016), but different governance regimes and varying institutional policies between the two sectors make this challenging. The sheer range of donors, implementing agencies, NGOs, national and local governments, as well as the needs of populations of concern, make policy and practice within humanitarian energy complex.

Understanding how policies and practices for humanitarian energy are supporting global objectives to deliver sustainable energy for all is vital to move the sector forward. For example, embedding new humanitarian energy strategies within the context of energy access sector learning on greening mini-grid supply, the social impacts of productive uses, and understanding market needs in national contexts (Colenbrander et al., 2018; SEforALL, 2017). This chapter presents an overview of the institutions, concepts, and organisations acting within the sector to lay the ground for detailed discussion in the following chapters.

What is energy and how is it different to other sectors?

The essential need for energy in humanitarian contexts

There is an urgent need to reshape the way energy resources are dealt with in humanitarian contexts as multiple, complex, and repeated humanitarian crises are becoming more frequent and there is a critical need for multi-year humanitarian planning to address immediate and long-term energy needs of displaced people. Energy services are key to enabling displaced people to escape poverty and delivering objectives on resilience, climate change, long-term responses to protracted crisis, market-based durable solutions, supporting livelihoods and productive opportunities, and improving the lives of women and girls.

Without energy, families cannot cook their food, bring lighting into their homes, heat and light their homes, or power their businesses. Communities cannot power their health centres, schools, or public spaces. Energy enables, but is also essential for displacement settings. For example, in humanitarian contexts electricity is essential for powering reception centres during emergency response and is needed for homes, schools, and businesses to enable people to live dignified and productive lives. In addition, energy which comes from renewable or sustainable source can reduce the environmental and resource burden on host governments and local communities and provide affordable electricity for entrepreneurs to develop livelihood opportunities based on sustainable energy. Without access to sustainable energy the options for building programmes focused on self-reliance of communities and improving livelihoods are limited.

While it is challenging to integrate sustainable energy at the start of humanitarian programming, it is possible. Energy planning tools, technical guidelines, business models, and procedures already exist to support humanitarian assistance in delivering sustainable energy. Working in partnership across humanitarian and development organisations is critical to delivering this.

Definitions: what is energy for displacement?

This chapter presents an overview of how policies and practices are developing to support cost-effective, environmentally sustainable energy to meet the needs of displaced people. Many organizations are now working on a common vision to ensure that “Every person affected by conflict or natural disaster has access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy services by 2030” (Global Plan of Action for Sustainable Energy Solutions in Situations of Displacement, 2018, p. 2). However, few of the organisations working on humanitarian energy define what exactly energy for displacement means. As the humanitarian energy sector expands, terminology is likely to become increasingly important. There are a range of terms employed within the sector, of which ‘energy for displacement’, ‘safe access to fuel and energy in humanitarian settings’, and ‘humanitarian energy’ are commonly used – often interchangeably by policy makers and practitioners.

While there is no agreed upon definition of energy for displacement, this chapter suggests the following definition for the humanitarian energy sector: Institutions, policies, programmes, global initiatives, actions, and activities which use a range of sustainable and fossil fuel energy sources in contexts of displacement, to meet the energy needs of people in camps and urban settings, self-settled refugees, host communities, and internally displaced people. This definition may be used as an umbrella term for a range of topics, including energy for displacement, energy for refugees, energy in emergencies, and humanitarian energy, to fully capture the dynamic scope of the terminology needed.

Table 1.1 presents an overview of the commonly used terms in the humanitarian sector to describe energy activities. While this table is not meant to be comprehensive, it does provide a sense of the varied elements of the humanitarian energy system and the core areas of focus to date.

The reasons for the differences in terminology and use of these definitions are complex, however, many of these variations are guided by two factors 1) the scope and ethos of the institutions who have been key in developing the policies and outputs for the area and 2) the emerging and changing nature of the sector. Many actors are still engaged with justifying the need and purpose of energy for displacement, and as a result the terms used to describe the problem are often adjusted to fit the audience. For example, the focus on safe, healthy, affordable fuels for cooking in humanitarian settings may be guided by the Global Alliance for Clean Cooking’s remit to “save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and protect the environment by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions” (Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, 2014). Similarly, certain terms focus on technology-specific areas, such as cooking systems in humanitarian settings or the replacement of diesel generators. Even from this brief overview it is apparent that there are multiple terms and practices present within the humanitarian energy nexus.

How is energy different than other sectors?

Until recently, energy has largely been overlooked as an issue within humanitarian communities. On the one hand, energy provision in humanitarian settings is not new: there has always been a need for diesel fuel and generators to power humanitarian operations, fuel for trucks, cars, and planes to field and rural operations, and energy supplies needed to power humanitarian responses. In many humanitarian responses, cookstoves, firewood and basic provisions are supplied to displaced households for cooking food and boiling water. Some humanitarian locations are even connected to grid-level power from national sources or use electricity from host communities. However, supplying renewable or sustainable energy solutions for refugees and humanitarian operations is in its infancy, as is the provision of electricity services and products in responses to enable households to have access to light and sometimes phone charging. In this sense, renewable and sustainable energy services remain exceptions rather than the rule in humanitarian contexts.

Table 1.1Suggested definitions and scope of humanitarian energy areas

Commonly Used Terms	Current scope	Suggested Definition
Energy for displacement, energy for displaced people, energy and forced displacement	Sector-wide term, holistic and covering a range of displacement contexts. Energy for displacement is often the umbrella and informal term used across settings.	Energy supply for displaced people: forced migrants, including refugees and internally displaced people, in camps and urban settings. Host communities and self-settled refugees can also be included in this definition as their energy needs are impacted by displacement, although these terms normally focus on energy for people in refugee camps or urban areas. These terms are often used interchangeably within the sector.
Humanitarian energy: energy access in humanitarian settings	Sector-wide term, holistic and covering a range of humanitarian contexts. Increasingly, practitioners are using the term humanitarian energy instead of energy for displacement to align explicitly with the humanitarian sector.	The use of a range of energy sources across all contexts of displacement, which includes the energy needs of people in camps and urban settings, self-settled refugees, host communities and internally displaced people. While energy for displacement is often used as a neutral term, humanitarian energy is often being used to align with progressive ideals on renewable energy and emerging lessons from energy access sector on energy access rights, sustainability, and leaving no-one behind in the transition to modern energy access.
Energy in emergencies	Focused on crisis and emergency situations, including natural disasters and conflict settings.	The use and supply of energy for crisis situations, including natural disasters and conflict settings. Often focused on short-term power and fuel supplies and the immediate needs of newly encamped populations. Energy in emergencies can also cover a wide range of people, included those who are not displaced from their region, but are in an emergency in or near their home (for example, people affected by earthquakes or natural disasters).
Energy and migration	Focused on people on the move and migrants.	The supply for, and use of, energy by migrant communities, including economic migrants and asylum seekers. Often focused on migrants to the global north rather than migrants within the global south or internally displaced people, and linked with climate change and development narratives (see following chapter by Eva Mach).
Renewable energy for refugees	Renewable energy focus and usually supporting refugees and increasingly host communities.	The use of renewable, sustainable and replenishable biomass energy sources in contexts of displacement. This terms often is used in association with refugee camps, as camps are often densely populated and renewable solutions can be implemented within communities.
Cooking and cooking systems in humanitarian settings	Cooking, firewood, and fuel focused.	The use of firewood and fuels as energy for refugees and displaced people: the supply for cookstoves, clean cooking technologies and firewood for displaced people.
Fuel and energy, safe access to fuel and energy in humanitarian settings	Focus on fuel and energy: firewood for households and diesel generation for humanitarian response organisations.	Sustainable and safe use of firewood and fuels as energy for refugees and displaced people and effective use of energy resources by humanitarian agencies.
Household energy for refugees	Focus on lighting, mobile charging, heating, cooking, and cooling for homes and households.	Ensuring refugees in camps and urban settings have safe and sustainable energy for their household use, including affordable lighting and mobile charging, safe cooking technologies, low-carbon power for household appliances.
Community energy for refugees	Often focused on mini-grid and decentralised energy solutions.	Providing sustainable and affordable energy to community facilities, including schools, hospitals, community spaces, and street lighting. Often focuses on electricity solutions, but can encompass community cooking initiatives and kitchens.
Energy for productive use in humanitarian settings and energy for refugee businesses	Usually focused on camps, mini-grid solutions, and electricity-based solutions. An emerging set of terms that may increase in visibility over time.	The supply of energy for small and medium sized enterprises in refugee camps: enabling entrepreneurship to develop within refugee camps. Often involving commercial, agricultural, and industrial activities using electricity services for the production of goods or provision of services.
Institutional energy for humanitarian agenc...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction and overview
• Part 1 Framing energy-access and forced migration
• Part 2 Evolving approaches
• Part 3 Future opportunities and solutions
• Index