ObjectivesFund scope
Electricity is imperative for humanitarian responses, including operations in cities (offices, logistics centres, warehouses, etc.) and displacement locales like refugee camps or integrated settlements (site offices, healthcare and education centres, water supply facilities, or accommodations). Conservative estimates from a survey undertaken by the GPA Coordination Unit suggest that six United Nations agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross operate 11,365 diesel and petrol generators in displacement settings, spending more than $100 million US dollars per year on fuel.
Running generators on fossil fuels results in 200,000 tonnes of harmful CO2 emissions, which contribute deleterious climate change outcomes. However, associated costs of these and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is largely unmonitored. Implementing energy efficiency measures could rapidly, and significantly, reduce energy consumption while rolling out sustainable energy solutions—such as a decarbonized electricity supply—can lead to further reductions in costs to and for humanitarian responses.
Guided by strategic and committed partnerships, the Decarbonizing Humanitarian Energy Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) facilitates a Centralized Clean Energy Service (CCES) that is designed to reduce energy consumption and costs for individual client organizations. Stakeholder action supports the straightforward involvement of the private sector to increase Fund investment capacity and coordinates multiple projects (“bundling”) to achieve economies of scale and unlock innovative financing mechanisms. In doing so, stakeholders open opportunities to imrove energy access to displaced and local/host communities in tandem with producing a suite of evidence-based communications materials that promote lower carbon operations. Centralizing aggregation also reveals possibilities for integrating new financing mechanisms that support the transition to sustainable energy solutions or improved energy access for everyone.
Fund results are sought through six “package” areas:
- Coordination and Strategic Project Development
- Evidence and Technical Assistance
- Greening Humanitarian Energy Infrastructure
- Leveraging Finance
- Capacity Strengthening and Knowledge Sharing
- Research on Enabling Community Access
In doing so, outcomes are projected to significantly reduce GHG emissions and are aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7 and 13, and also contribute to institutional sustainability commitments made under the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations, United Nations Greening the Blue, and nationally determined contributions of programme countries, as per the Paris Agreement.
Theory of change
In launching the CCES the Decarbonizing Humanitarian Energy MPTF consortium will facilitate a broad, global transformation of existing energy infrastructure in fragile settings towards more sustainable sources of energy. To do this Fund partners provide technical assistance and promote sustainable delivery models that involve the private sector in installing, maintaining and operating energy infrastructure in emergency and humanitarian contexts while continually evaluating opportunities to extend electricity access to conflict and crisis-affected communities.
Anticipated results are reductions in GHG emissions, cost savings, employment opportunities, improved essential service delivery and capacity strengthening at local and global levels. CCES projects are designed to reduce energy consumption and costs for client organizations (such as humanitarian, government, or community partners that manage diesel gensets in humanitarian contexts), simplify involvement for the private sector to increase investments, bundle projects to achieve economies of scale and unlock innovative financing mechanisms, and secure financing while leveraging private sector presence to enable wider community energy access.
Action and investments not only deliver on the goals of the Global Platform for Action on Sustainable Energy in Displacement Settings, but also propose a new global framework for achieving SDG 7 in displacement contexts (GPA Framework document).
> $55M 
$55M - $25M
$25M - $5M
< $5M
