Clean energy in refugee camps could save millions of dollars

New research shows that investing in clean cookstoves and solar lanterns could benefit people, the planet, and NGOs' budgets

Stretched humanitarian agencies could save millions of dollars - and reduce carbon emissions, deforestation and violence against women and girls - if solar power and other clean energy sources were installed at refugee camps, according to new analysis released today.

In the first report looking into energy use in refugee camps around the world, a consortium of NGOs, thinktanks and donors says that the refugees' energy use has been neglected by both the international energy access lobby and by humanitarian agencies. In refugee camps, 90% of families have no access to electricity. There's also often no street lighting, putting women and girls at greater risk of sexual attack if they need to go to the toilet at night.