Sustainable Energy at the ‘Triple Nexus’: Challenges and opportunities for humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding organizations

art by Samuel Kambari (Rwanda | Uganda)

Philip Sandwell (Imperial College London); Eva Mach (International Organization for Migration); David Mozersky (Energy Peace Partners); Thomas Fohgrub (United Nations Institute for Training and Research)

Policy coordination and closer cooperation across sectors and organizations can help realize the benefits of sustainable energy in fragile and displacement contexts.

Context

Fragile contexts and situations of displacement often exist at the ‘triple nexus’ of humanitarian, development and peacebuilding organizations. Such situations are commonly marked by scarce resources and energy poverty: an estimated 80% of people living in refugee camps rely on the most basic stoves and fuels for cooking,[i] while 86% of the global population without access to electricity live in fragile states affected by conflict and instability.[ii]

The provision of energy for displacement-affected people is not a formal priority within the humanitarian system, and organizations rarely have the means to go beyond meeting the most basic needs of affected communities. Yet programming often has energy-relevant implications; for example, collecting firewood is a common requirement for cooking. Large population movements can increase demand for firewood, contributing to the depletion of forests and competition for environmental resources. This can contribute to community tensions, security risks, and threats of violence, particularly against women and girls who are usually responsible for gathering cooking fuel.[iii]

Humanitarian and peacekeeping operations often rely on diesel generators for power; they also typically have one-year funding cycles that inhibit long-term planning. This is discordant with international commitments and organizational sustainability targets, including the UN system-wide strategy to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of its operations by 2030.[iv] Progress is compounded by complex regulatory environments that can limit integration with national policymaking and stifle private sector involvement in providing sustainable solutions for organizations and communities.

What’s been done

Policy recognition, intersectoral coordination and multi-year planning are necessary to realize the benefits at the triple nexus.[v] Migration issues and their associated energy and environmental challenges were recognized by UN Member States in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants,[vi] and the consequent Global Compacts, which demonstrate the will of signatory countries to address these issues together.[vii] The New Way of Working[viii] encourages humanitarian agencies and development actors to work together – as soon as practicable – for the longer-term planning necessary to embed environmental considerations within wider humanitarian, development and peacebuilding programmes.[ix]

Somalia offers two pioneering examples of how sustainable energy can support triple nexus objectives. In 2020, the UN Support Office in Somalia signed a power purchase agreement with a private sector developer to build a new solar system in Baidoa, to power both the UN and the local community, with ownership of the system to transfer to the local government after 15 years.[x] Separately, a UN-led project tackled unsustainable charcoal production throughout Somalia: by switching to efficient stoves, demand was reduced in more than 6,000 households, including those internally displaced, while charcoal producers were offered sustainable alternative livelihoods such as livestock raising.[xi] In both examples, long-term planning and intersectoral coordination enabled the use of sustainable energy to support environmental peacebuilding.

Looking ahead

Harnessing sustainable energy to support peacebuilding is a relatively new approach,[xii], [xiii] and solutions should be sensitive to the specificities of fragile and displacement situations. Implementing organizations should design projects in partnership with affected communities, building on lessons learned regarding sustainable energy’s potential to support durable solutions and structural poverty reduction,[xiv] especially in migration settings.[xv] This will help elevate community needs and priorities, amid both crisis recovery and longer-term poverty alleviation and development efforts.

Organizations working at the triple nexus should encourage the transition to clean energy and have a tangible plan to phase out fossil fuels. Sustainable cooking solutions and increased electricity access could lessen environmental impacts, reduce insecurity, and increase economic opportunities. Transitioning to renewable energy generation for humanitarian and peacekeeping operations could reduce emissions, energy costs and security issues from transporting fuel and leave a long-term legacy of peace dividends after missions draw down.[xvi]

Policymakers should consider sustainable energy as the ‘new normal’ and a fundamental enabler for the benefit of affected people, organizations and the environment. Meeting emissions reduction targets will require a transition to cleaner alternatives, while new sustainable energy in fragile settings could alleviate resource conflicts and provide a new foundation for peacebuilding. Policymakers should therefore ensure coherence between their climate commitments and activities at the triple nexus and use sustainable energy to create synergies between them.

Footnotes

[i] Lahn, G. and Grafham, O. (2015) Heat, Light and Power for Refugees: Saving Lives, Reducing Costs. London, Chatham House

[ii] Logan, S. and Sacchetto, C. (2021) Scaling up investments in fragile states. Council on State Fragility. London, International Growth Centre

[iii] Clancy, J. S., Skutsch, M. and Batchelor, S. (2003) The Gender-Energy-Poverty Nexus: Finding the energy to address gender concerns in development (https://esmap.org/sites/default/files/resources-document/The%20Gender%20Energy%20Poverty%20Nexus.pdf)

[iv] United Nations Chief Executives Board for Coordination (2019) ‘Strategy for sustainability management in the United Nations system, 2020–2030’ Phase I: Environmental sustainability in the area of management. (https://unsceb.org/sites/default/files/imported_files/CEB.2019.1.Add_.1%20-%20Sustainability%20Management%202020-2030_Phase%20I_0.pdf)

[v] Sandwell, P., Mach, E. and Fohgrub, T. (2021) ‘Interlinkages between Energy and Peaceful and Inclusive Societies (SDG 16)’, in Leveraging Energy Action for Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (https://sdgs.un.org/sites/default/files/2021-06/2021-SDG7%20POLICY%20BRIEFS.pdf)

[vi] Ionesco, D. and Mach, E. (2016) New Steps For Migration Policy: The New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants Recognizes the Crucial Role of Environmental Degradation, Disasters and Climate Change for Human Mobility. (https://environmentalmigration.iom.int/environmental-migration-new-york-declaration)

[vii] Mach, E. (2019) The Migration-Energy Nexus in International Policy. In Owen Grafham [ed.] Energy Access and Forced Migration. Routledge.

[viii] United Nations Joint Steering Committee to Advance Humanitarian and Development Collaboration. The New Way of Working. https://www.un.org/jsc/content/new-way-working, accessed 20 August 2021.

[ix] Huber, S. & Mach, E. (2019) Policies for increased sustainable energy access in displacement settings. Nature Energy, Vol. 4, pp. 1000-1002. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-019-0520-1

[x] Holt, V. K., & Hopkins, A., with Mozersky, D. and Das, S. (2021) Shifting Power: Transitioning to Renewable Energy in United Nations Peace Operations. The Stimson Center & Energy Peace Partners. Washington, DC.

[xi] UNDP Somalia. The Joint Programme for Sustainable Charcoal Reduction and Alternative Livelihoods. https://www.so.undp.org/content/somalia/en/home/projects/joint-programme-on-charcoal.html, accessed 20 June 2021.

[xii] Druet, D., Lyammouri, R., & Mozersky, D. (2021) From Renewable Energy to Peacebuilding in Mali: MINUSMA’s Opportunity to Bridge the Gap. The Stimson Center & Energy Peace Partners. Washington, DC.

[xiii] Giæver, B., et al., 2020. EmPowering Africa's Most Vulnerable: Access to solar energy in complex crises. Oslo, NORCAP and Boston Consulting Group

[xiv] UNDP and University of Bergen (2018). Policy Brief 8: Interlinkages among Energy, Poverty and Inequalities. In Accelerating SDG 7 Achievement, United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affiars. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/17480PB8.pdf

[xv] Mach, E. (2019) The Migration-Energy Nexus in International Policy. In Grafham, O. [ed.] Energy Access and Forced Migration. Routledge.

[xvi] Mozersky, D. & Kammen, D. M. (2018) South Sudan’s Renewable Energy Potential: A Building Block for Peace. United States Institute for Peace, Washington, DC.