Recommendations
Communities in Africa have demonstrated the transformative potential of the renewable energy and peace approach. Practitioners across different sectors can carry this work forward.
Renewable energy is not only compatible with peacebuilding in fragile and conflict-affected settings; in these contexts, renewable energy is an essential part of how peace is made durable at a micro level. Practitioners can take steps to connect renewable energy and peace in their work.
For energy developers
Renewable energy is needed for energy access even in fragile and conflict-affected settings. This can be done by incorporating conflict sensitivity and community engagement through genuine free, prior, and informed consent, explicit benefit sharing, and grievance mechanisms with real authority. Distributed renewable energy projects in fragile and conflict-affected settings should be designed with social and productive loads in mind because legitimacy and revenue depend on both.
For policymakers
National electrification strategies can further incorporate renewable energy access in fragile and conflict-affected settings for sustainable development and peacebuilding. The priority is to remove barriers that prevent decentralized energy systems from operating in fragile environments. That includes enabling regulation, land-access clarity, procurement reform, and support for minigrid integration into national electrification strategies. In fragile settings, policy should make it easier to build local legitimacy and harder to externalize social costs.
For peacebuilders
The challenge is to treat energy as a central part of the peace toolkit. Peacebuilders should build understanding around the role of energy in the regions they work in, as well as how to work with distributed renewable energy projects to ensure they can change the conditions for peace and security. Energy access is not a substitute for mediation or governance reform, but it shapes the conditions under which those processes succeed or fail. Peace practitioners who understand energy are better positioned to design durable interventions.
For development partners and donors
Developing distributed renewable energy in fragile and conflict assisted settings requires more commitment given the challenges, a peace premium. The practical task is to support the kinds of project conditions that make decentralized renewable energy socially durable: long-term community engagement, local grievance resolution, conflict-sensitive planning, and procurement arrangements that prioritize resilience and community buy-in. In fragile settings, the value of a project should be judged not only by how many connections it creates, but also whether communities continue to protect and use it when conditions deteriorate.
Recommendations are based on an analysis by Hubert Kinkoh.
Resources
Dig deeper into the policy research and analysis behind how renewable energy can help build peace in fragile and conflict-affected areas.
Renewable Energy as Peace Infrastructure
Across fragile and conflict-affected settings in Africa, renewable energy can do more than deliver electricity. It can also function as peace infrastructure. (July 2026)
Why Renewable Energy Matters in the Context of Peace and Stability
This policy brief explores the potential of renewable energy to contribute to promoting peace and stability in fragile and conflict-affected states (FCAS). (November 2024)
The Geopolitics of the Energy Transition and Opportunities for International Cooperation
New framing lenses for assessing geopolitics that take into account the interrelation of climate, energy, finance, trade, and security altogether can inform more cooperative global and regional policy approaches to energy transition. (December 2023)
Powering Peace is a longstanding joint initiative of the Stimson Center, Energy Peace Partners, and the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth, which aims to explore cleaner and more efficient energy options for multinational field operations in fragile states.
Renewable Energy and Peace in the Central African Republic
Exploring the role of electrification and renewable energy in supporting peace in CAR – with the help of UN peacekeeping. (March 2025)
A Case Study in Improving Environmental Management in UN Peacekeeping
Lessons learned from the innovative Nepal-US-UN partnership bringing renewable energy to the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. (November 2024)
Peacekeeping and Clean Energy: Can Climate and Development Goals Align in Fragile States?
Exploring the potential for United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions to collaborate with national governments and international partners to expand access to renewable energy sources in conflict-affected countries. (October 2024)
Building Legacies for Peace through Renewable Energy Infrastructure: Lessons from Mali
The rapid closure of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, indicates the growing need to integrate positive legacy into transition planning from the outset of mission deployment. (September 2023)
Renewable Energy & the United Nations: A Green Spark for Peace in South Sudan
South Sudan demonstrates the potential for the UN to work with a wide range of stakeholders and support new clean-energy projects and sustainable peace. (February 2023)
Powering Ahead: The United Nations and Somalia’s Renewable Energy Opportunity
Exploring how the UN could leverage its considerable purchasing power to support new clean-energy projects and sustainable peace in Somalia. (March 2022)
Shifting Power: Transitioning to Renewable Energy in United Nations Peace Operations
Examining the renewable energy future of UN peace operations to enhance missions, meet climate goals, and benefit host communities. (January 2021)
From Renewable Energy to Peacebuilding in Mali: MINUSMA’s Opportunity to Bridge the Gap
Focusing on the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali and the dynamics of energy, including the lack of electrification and impact of the diesel trade in the political economy of conflict affected northern Mali. (June 2021)
Exploring new avenues for partnerships on renewable energies in peace operations
Outlining innovative partnerships that could be implemented in UN field operations, a background paper that was written in advance of the Challenges Annual Forum 2021. (December 2021)
Renewable Energy and Peace: Empirical Analysis of Global Data
An empirical analysis examining the relationship between peace, conflict, and renewable energy, both globally, as well as specifically focusing on a group of countries that are threatened by high climate vulnerability, low electricity access, and high fragility. (September 2023)
Blended Finance in Fragile Settings: P-RECs and the P-REC Aggregation Facility
This case study explores the experience of Energy Peace Partners in their establishment of the Peace Renewable Energy Credit (P-REC) and the P-REC Aggregation Facility, an innovative blended finance fund focused on impactful energy ventures in fragile settings. (July 2024)
Positioning P-RECs Within the Sustainability Landscape
This report offers an analysis of how P-RECs fit into various Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and sustainability disclosure frameworks. (December 2023)
Peace Renewable Energy Credits: Facilitating High Impact Projects in Fragile Regions
The article introduces P-RECs as a market-based financing mechanism designed to channel investment into renewable-energy projects in conflict-affected and energy-poor regions. (March 2019)
Comms Toolkit
Help raise awareness about the renewable energy and peace approach. Sharing these stories with your networks can foster collaboration and seed future projects. See the Renewable Peace comms toolkit for shareable messages and graphics.
