The 2023 edition of the Tracking SDG7 report has warned that current efforts are not enough to achieve sustainable energy for all by 2030. The report, released as we near the halfway mark towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 7, shows that progress has been made on some specific elements of the agenda, such as the increased deployment of renewable energy in the power sector. However, progress is not enough to reach the targets set out in the SDGs. The SDG7 goal includes reaching universal access to electricity and clean cooking, doubling historic levels of efficiency improvements, and substantially increasing the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.
The report highlights that reaching these goals would have a deep impact on people’s health and wellbeing, help protect them against environmental and social risks, such as air pollution, and expand access to primary healthcare and services. Despite the clean energy transition moving faster than anticipated, there is still a great deal of work that needs to be done to deliver sustainable, secure, and affordable access to modern energy services for the billions of people who live without it.
Renewable electricity use in global consumption grew from 26.3% in 2019 to 28.2% in 2020, representing the largest single-year increase since the start of tracking progress for SDGs. However, efforts to increase the share of renewables in heating and transport remain off-target to achieve 1.5°C. The rate of energy intensity improvement has slowed down in recent years, dropping to 0.6% in 2020, the worst year for energy intensity improvements since the global financial crisis, mainly due to pandemic restrictions.
The report also indicates that international public financial flows in support of clean energy in developing countries sit at $10.8 billion in 2021, 35% less than the 2010-2019 average and only about 40% of the 2017 peak of $26.4bn. Additionally, access to clean cooking is off-track to achieve universal access by 2030. Almost 2.3 billion people still use polluting fuels and technology to cook, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
The report suggests that multilateral financial institutions direct financial flows more equitably around the world to support renewable deployment and related physical infrastructure development. To realize SDG7 without compromising climate goals, systemic change is necessary in the way international cooperation works. The report shows that energy targets right now seem harder to reach than they did in 2015, which will require scaling-up action if we are to meet SDG7.
The Tracking SDG7 report is meant to provide the international community with a global dashboard to register progress on energy access, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and international cooperation advance SDG7. It will be presented to top decision-makers at a special launch event on July 11, 2023, at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, ahead of the second SDG Summit in September 2023 in New York.
