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Clean energy in refugee camps lowers CO2 while saving money and improving lives

By Shanna Edberg
December 1, 2015

Bringing more efficient cookstoves and solar lamps to refugee camps would reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 6.85m tonnes of CO2 a year, according to a new report. It would also reduce deforestation by families who need to chop wood for cooking fuel. Ninety percent of families in refugee camps have no access to electricity, and a lack of street lighting threatens the safety of women who may need to use the toilet at night. Providing solar lamps and efficient cookstoves would not only address the lack of energy access, it would also save $323 million per year among humanitarian agencies and refugee families. Moreover, providing this equipment would reduce the risk of fire and increase food security for families without access to fuel.

Climate Protection: Reduces carbon emissions and deforestation from using kerosene and firewood as cooking fuel in inefficient stoves **Energy & Mobility: **Brings electricity access to families who have none Resilience: Lowers reliance on limited natural resources; saves money and time spent gathering fuel Food & Water: Increases food security for families with less access to fuel for cooking Health, Well-Being, & Safety: Reduces damaging smoke from inefficient cookstoves; brings light to dark and unsafe spaces; lowers the risk of fire from cooking

This post is part of a series on examples of ​multisolving​, or climate-smart policies that simultaneously work to mitigate climate change while providing co-benefits such as the ones described above. The multiple benefits analysis was done using the ​FLOWER framework​.