The Green Companion

In line with the  UNHCR Climate Action Framework  and the  Operational Strategy for Climate Resilience and Environmental Sustainability (2022 - 2025) , embedding environmental considerations in sectoral interventions plays a crucial role to mitigate climate change impacts, improve overall natural resources management and reduce the impact of humanitarian programs on the environment. The Green Companion can be used in a wide variety of displacement contexts (formal settlements, rural and urban settings) while adapting to each unique context.

The green companion offers UNHCR personnel and partners practical appraisal tools, case studies and good practices to explore the potential options for reducing the environmental impacts in key sectoral areas of:

Good settlement planning facilitates the resilience and well-being of people, as well as the equitable and efficient delivery of goods and services and has a positive effect on the environment. Settlement planning includes participation of the people who live there and promotes self-reliance and enable communities.

UNHCR aims to enhance settlement planning and evidence-based decision making for improved environmental management of displacement settlements using Remote Sensing and GIS technologies. It further seeks to increase capacities in the use of geo-information technologies for settlement planning by integrating critical environmental considerations.

The provision of sustainable housing should provide privacy, security, protection from the elements, and a sense of home for the forcibly displaced. Shelter and housing programs should be adapted according to geographical context, cultural practices and habits, local availability of skills within the affected population at large as well as accessibility to adequate construction materials in any given country. Preferred housing solutions must be designed and engineered based on context-specific structural and performance requirements while considering climate related risks and environmental sustainability.

Case study: Good practices in shelter – Tehama Emergency Shelter Kits (TESK), Yemen

An enhanced shelter kit using locally available materials was designed in Yemen as part of the emergency shelter response in locations with colder climates. The Tehama Emergency Shelter Kits (TESK) are an innovative type of Shelter Units produced by vulnerable displaced Yemenis themselves. In 2018/2019, UNHCR started building 9,000 TESK that can be further upgraded into Transitional Shelters with some minor adjustments. The walls are made by Khazaf sheets that are trimmed and hand-made by Yemeni women from displaced and host communities. The mud walls drastically reduce the hot temperatures inside the unit during the summer months. The Transitional Shelter Unit incorporates the materials of TESK to reach a more sustainable upgrade whereas ensuring high levels of cost efficiency by “recycling/adjusting” the materials provided during the emergency phase.

In line with the  UNHCR’s Policy on CBI 2022-2026  Cash-based interventions (CBI) are preferred over in-kind assistance, to deliver assistance and services during humanitarian response in a way that meets affected people in the most flexible manner. CBIs can reduce protection risks, facilitate solutions, and improve efficiency and effectiveness in programme delivery. CBI programs help localize humanitarian responses, reducing long supply chains which are very heavy carbon footprints. Furthermore, CBI can increase overall environmental sustainability by supporting access to environmentally preferable products, through encouraging positive buying behaviors and market enhancements.

The energy need for cooking, lighting, and electricity can have negative protection consequences and increase the risks especially for the most vulnerable.

Using solid fuels and inefficient technologies to cover energy needs for cooking, heating, and lighting generates health and protections risks, especially for the most vulnerable, and may create conflict with local communities. In addition, using polluting fuels and unsustainably harvested biomass also negatively impacts the environment, such as increasing soil erosion, landslides, and desertification.

To mitigate these negative impacts and improve protection outcomes, clean fuels for cooking are the preferred solutions, over the use of unsustainably harvested biomasses such as firewood; renewable energy systems are recommended for sustainable household lighting and electricity for community facilities including water boreholes, health centers and educational facilities.

Alternatives to unsustainably harvested firewood exist: LPG, ethanol, solar-electric, biogas (if culturally accepted) and locally produced fuels such as pellets, briquettes are all cleaner energy options, ideally combined with efficient cooking stoves to replace traditional three-stone fire. They can all have a positive impact on the natural environment and beyond: they can help prevent deforestation, while also mitigating GBV risks and having better health outcomes rather than firewood or other traditional solid fuels. Eventually, they also help decrease tensions with local hosting communities due to competition over scarce natural resources.

Key information is also available in the  Cooking Compendium  which provides an overview of common implementations across UNHCR operations.

Provision of portable solar lamps from the onset of an emergency avoids the use of open fires, burning sticks, gasoline or kerosene lamps that produce carbon emissions and are harmful for human health due to the air pollutants. Solar lamps can be provided in-kind or preferably via CBI interventions. Key information is also available in the  Lighting Compendium  which provides an overview of common implementations across UNHCR operations.

UNHCR promotes access to sustainable electricity, including the expanded use of renewable energy, to minimize the negative environmental impact in a way that is inclusive of host communities while improving the protection and wellbeing of refugees.

Refugees can live in harsh environments that make access to WASH services complex. Untreated water, lack of proper sanitation and precarious hygiene conditions put refugee health, protection, education and livelihoods at risk. Furthermore, climate change poses serious risk to the delivery of water and sanitation services to refugees and host communities: drought, heatwaves, storms, and flooding make the delivery of services more complex.

The extraction of groundwater should be coupled with continuous groundwater monitoring to ensure extraction and recharge is done within the capacity of the aquifer to recharge. Failing to do so may lead to irreversible consequences on water levels, the environment and the sustainability of the settlement and as a consequence habitability.

Solar, hybrid or other renewable energy sources should be prioritized over carbon-based fuel generators to reduce fossil fuel consumption in the operation and maintenance of water pumping, treatment and distribution. Use of gravity fed systems rather than motorized ones also have positive environmental outcomes.

Case Study: Rapid Groundwater Potential Mapping for Sustainable Water Supply in Uganda

To meet the demand of drinking water in emergency situations, it is key to quickly assess possible water sources and plan for sustainable water supply options to rapidly transition away from costly emergency responses, such as water trucking. The  Rapid Groundwater Potential Mapping (RGWPM)  , developed by the  Geneva Technical Hub  , guides the planning of geophysical investigations and is a practical tool for humanitarian actors and decision makers to strategically plan and implement which water supply option is most adapted where.

The refugee influx from South Sudan into Uganda ignited the development of a spatial tool to rapidly assess borehole yield range probabilities for the identification of areas where borehole drilling is likely to be successful. The use of RGWPM in Uganda significantly increased the average yield of the sited boreholes when compared to the boreholes sited without RGWPM. These boreholes triggered the transition from emergency water supply (water trucking and hand pumps) towards sustainable exploitation of groundwater sources, coupled with solar-powered systems. The mapping has since been extended to 13 refugee operations, with an objective to establish a scalable methodology to optimize well sitting, increase yields and enable sustainable water provision.

Solid waste, generated by households, institutions and markets can directly pollute local environments and surface or groundwater sources. It can also indirectly affect ecosystems by blocking natural drainage channels. Poor management of solid waste can also have a direct impact on air quality.

Management of end-of-life products should be considered, to minimize the volume of waste generation also from electric and electronic equipment.

Climate change is impacting health in many ways and leading to death and illness from increasingly frequent extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, storms and floods, as well as increases in water- and vector borne diseases, and mental health issues. At the same time, the health sector itself can have an environmental impact and mitigation in waste management, use of energy and transport can positively contribute to reducing the negative environmental impacts.

Where feasible, favor the safe and environmentally sound treatment of hazardous health care waste (e,g, by autoclaving, microwaving, steam treatment integrated with internal mixing, and chemical treatment) over medical waste incineration.