SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy for All

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nonviolenceny

4 min readMay 5, 2020

Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all is a requisite step to combat climate change and to ensure greater global equity. I am Every nation relies on an available source of energy, such as electricity, to perform basic societal functions. It is humanity’s use of energy that has created the modern standard of living that we are accustomed to. Yet, there are still communities around the globe lacking access to electricity and other vital technologies, which are available elsewhere. The way humanity produces energy is also at issue with the existential threat of global warming on the horizon. Energy production is not as sustainable as it should be, which places it in direct conflict with many potential climate change solutions. Humanity needs energy to support its current standard of living, but has failed to employ sustainable sources of energy to protect the environment. The United Nations (UN) recognized these fundamental issues when all its member states adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Within this agenda, Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) was created to resolve these issues through the promotion of global electrification and the facilitation of a shift to renewable energy. The video above further explains the target goals and indicators of SDG 7.

Throughout 2019, SDG 7 has helped guide UN member states toward the production of sustainable energy and greater energy access. As stated in a report by the UN Secretary-General, “access to electricity in the poorest countries has begun to accelerate, energy efficiency continues to improve, and renewable energy is making gains in the electricity sector”[1]. This encapsulates an entire year of innovation, education, and cooperation to create a globally sustainable system of energy development. The following facts are a few of the energy highlights of 2019:

The global electrification rate reached 89 percent and 153 million people have gained access to electricity each year in the past decade [2].
A third of global power capacity is now based on renewable energy after solar and wind energy additions [3].
The “Three Percent Club”, a coalition of countries, businesses, and institutions, had announced its commitment to supply technical and financial support to help drive a 3% annual global increase in energy efficiency [4].

There are many more energy achievements that can be listed, but the above provides some of the global accomplishments to keep an eye out for.

However, UN member states are unable to rest since more action must be taken to improve energy accessibility and sustainability in the new decade. The global electrification rate did rise as electricity became increasingly accessible to small island developing states (SIDS) and developing countries, but some 800 million people continue to remain without electricity. Member states have also taken significant steps to switch to renewable energy in an effort to conserve the environment. Nevertheless, close to 3 billion people still rely primarily on polluting cooking systems due to cost or accessibility issues [1]. Renewable energy has increased its share of global energy production at the close of the past decade but is still significantly outweighed by human reliance on non-renewable resources. Hence, SDG 7’s target goals are slowly being addressed one by one, which risks its potential completion by 2030.

The progress of SDG 7 in 2019 and the past decade has been often identified as ineffective, but it is important to recognize that this progress has given member states a better platform to develop from. Any progress toward global access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy is better than none since it helps member states transform their energy policies for better results. It also provides a tentative learning experience to understand what action should be taken next. In 2020, the lessons and gains from 2019 must be turned into the platform for future energy goals. For further information on SDG 7 and what can be done to meet its targets, visit https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg7.

References

[1] “Goal 7 .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.” United Nations. United Nations. Accessed March 9, 2020. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg7.

[2] “More People Have Access to Electricity Than Ever Before, but World Is Falling Short of Sustainable Energy Goals.” World Bank. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2019/05/22/tracking-sdg7-the-energy-progress-report-2019.

[3] “Renewable Energy Now Accounts for a Third of Global Power Capacity.” IRENA International Renewable Energy Agency. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://www.irena.org/newsroom/pressreleases/2019/Apr/Renewable-Energy-Now-Accounts-for-a-Third-of-Global-Power-Capacity.

[4] Iisd. “Global Coalition Commits to 3% Annual Global Increase in Energy Efficiency: News: SDG Knowledge Hub: IISD.” SDG Knowledge Hub. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://sdg.iisd.org/news/global-coalition-commits-to-3-annual-global-increase-in-energy-efficiency/.

[4]“Energy — United Nations Sustainable Development.” United Nations. United Nations. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/energy/.

[5]“Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy — SDG Tracker.” Our World in Data. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://sdg-tracker.org/energy.

Bibliography

[1] “Goal 7 .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.” United Nations. United Nations. Accessed March 9, 2020. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg7.

[4]“Energy — United Nations Sustainable Development.” United Nations. United Nations. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/energy/.

[5]“Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy — SDG Tracker.” Our World in Data. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://sdg-tracker.org/energy.

SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy for All

Written by Pamela Guerrero