The Moving Energy Initiative is presenting the opportunities of integrating sustainable energy into humanitarian relief, this Wednesday at the 2017 SE4ALLforum in New York.

This session will explore case studies on how humanitarian practices and aid flows in refugee crises might help scale up access to clean energy in low and middle-income host countries.

Ben Good, Energy 4 Impact’s CEO, will moderate a panel of expert speakers in the session Integrating sustainable energy into humanitarian relief: an opportunity for local markets and SE4ALL goals. Speakers include Dr Gareth Martin, Head of the Sustainable Energy Team at DfID, Olivier Lompo, UNHCR Environmental Officer in Burkina Faso, Shanti Kleiman, Energy and Environment Advisor at Mercy Corps and Glada Lahn, Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House.

Find out more about the event here.   

There are currently over 65 million people displaced by conflict around the world. 86 percent of these people are taking refuge in developing countries, many of which are affected by severe energy access and/or energy security issues. With humanitarian agencies increasingly being asked to deliver longer term development solutions, energy investments can be a bridge which helps secure basic human needs whilst contributing to a country’s long term sustainability goals.

The Moving Energy Initiative is a partnership between Chatham House, Energy 4 Impact, Practical Action, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID), the UNHCR and Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) – which is working to change the way that energy is deployed and delivered in situations of human displacement.

The consortium has conducted research in Kenya, Burkina Faso and Jordan and is designing and testing new ways to breaking down the barriers to expanding energy access and improving energy management. Some of the findings have been published in a series of studies, reports and toolkits.

“We are very pleased to see that some of the Moving Energy’s work is cited in the newly published 2017 SE4All Global Tracking Framework, which features two boxes on displaced people and energy [Box 3.5 pg 54 and Box 2.7 pg44]. This is something to celebrate as it puts refugees and displaced people on the sustainable energy access agenda," says Ben Good. 

For more information about the work of the Moving Energy Initiative check out the website here.