Report sheds light on energy needs in refugee camps

Around 90% of refugees living in camps have no access to electricity and many lack any form of lighting at night, according to a Chatham House report on energy in refugee settlements for the Moving Energy Initiative. Humanitarian agencies are ill-equipped to deal with the scale of need, says the report.

The Heat Light and Power for Refugees: Saving Lives, Reducing Costs report investigates the energy needs of refugees and displaced people worldwide and presents the first ever estimates of the volume and costs of the energy they use, says Chatham House.

'The problem goes beyond electricity. 80% of those in camps rely on firewood for cooking and, as a result, we estimate that some 20,000 people die prematurely each year due to the pollution from indoor fires,’ said Glada Lahn, Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House.

The report also looks at the costs of providing energy for refugees. According to the report there are around 60mn forcibly displaced people in the world, and they pay far over the odds for energy. For example, the 83,300 households living in Dadaab in Kenya – the world’s largest refugee settlement – spent an estimated $6.2mn on firewood last year, which accounts for approximately 24% of their overall household income. In comparison the average UK household spent 4% of its income on energy in 2011.

The report calls for an overhaul in the way that heat, light and power are delivered in humanitarian crises. To do this it makes the case for new partnerships between humanitarian agencies and private providers to increase clean energy access in refugee settlements.

Developing local markets for energy services could be part of the mix of solutions, says Lahn. ‘Using green, culturally appropriate technologies could save lives, reduce carbon emissions by 11mn tonnes per year and radically improve living standards. Introducing even the most basic solutions, such as improved cookstoves and basic solar lanterns, could save $323mn a year in fuel costs.'