Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

In 2022, global electricity access declined for the first time in a decade, primarily due to disruptions from COVID-19 and the Ukraine conflict. Despite improvements in energy intensity and renewable energy growth, international financial flows for clean energy in developing countries remain insufficient. At the current rate, 660 million people will still lack electricity and 1.8 billion will not have access to clean cooking by 2030. To achieve universal access to energy by 2030, we need to expedite electrification efforts, boost investments in renewable energy, enhance energy efficiency, and establish supportive policies and regulatory frameworks.

Target 7.1: o In 2022, global electricity access remained at 91%, but the number without access increased by 10 million from 2021 to 685 million people. Factors such as COVID-19 and the Ukraine conflict disrupted progress. Projections suggest that by 2030, 660 million will still lack electricity. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 83% of deficit in 2022. However, Central and Southern Asia reduced their gap from 235 million in 2015 to 33 million in 2022. Annual progress slowed to 0.4% between 2020 and 2022, requiring a 1.08% increase until 2030 to meet the target.

o In 2022, around 74% of the world used clean fuels for cooking. Yet, about 2.1 billion still relied on polluting fuels and technologies such as charcoal, coal, crop waste, dung, kerosene, and wood. The global access deficit decreased from 36% to 26% since 2015. However, current trends suggest a 21% shortfall in achieving universal access by 2030, leaving 1.8 billion without access to clean cooking by 2030.

Target 7.2: In 2021 the global share of renewable sources in total final energy consumption stood at 18.7%. Excluding traditional use of biomass, the share of modern renewable sources rose gradually from 10% in 2015 to 12.5% in 2021. The electricity sector led the charge with renewables, contributing 28.2% to total final electricity consumption. However, insufficient progress in the heat and transport sectors underscores the need for stronger conservation measures and policy actions. Tripling world’s installed renewable energy generation agreed at the COP28 is an important step aligning with the SDG7.

Target 7.3: In 2021, the primary energy intensity improved by 0.8%, falling below both the 1.2% five-year average and the SDG 7.3 target of 2.6%. To meet the 2030 target, annual improvements must now average around 4%. The robust economic recovery in 2021 led to the largest annual rise in energy consumption in 50 years, exceeding 5%. This surge was driven by a shift towards energyintensive industries and the resurgence of other demand sectors after lockdowns were lifted.

Target 7.a: In 2022, international public financial flows supporting clean energy in developing countries rose to $15.4 billion, a 25% increase from 2021 but still half of the 2016 peak of $28.5 billion. However, in 2023, it was anticipated a decrease in global five-year average flows by $450 million. The decreasing trend in these flows may hinder SDG 7 achievement, especially for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS.

Target 7.b: Installed renewable energy capacity is on the rise worldwide, reaching 424 watts per person globally in 2022. Developed nations averaged 1,073 watts per person, while developing countries averaged 293 watts per person. This represents an 8.5% increase from 2021, maintaining a steady compound annual growth rate of 8.1% over five-year periods.

Access to electricity and clean cooking fuels has improved in many parts of the world, but 675 million people are yet to be connected to the grids and 2.3 billion are still cooking with unsafe and polluting fuels. The war in Ukraine and global economic uncertainty continue to cause significant volatility in energy prices, leading some countries to raise investments in renewables and others to increase reliance on coal, putting the green transition at risk. If the current pace continues, about 660 million people will still lack access to electricity and close to 2 billion people will continue to rely on polluting fuels and technologies for cooking by 2030. To ensure access to energy for all by 2030, we must accelerate electrification, increase investments in renewable energy sources and invest in improving electricity grids.

• Target 7.1: The global population with access to electricity has increased from 87% in 2015 to 91% in 2021. The pace of electrification has rebounded between 2019 and 2021. However, the annual access growth of 0.6 percentage points in the recent period is lower than the 0.8 percentage points in 2015–19. As a result, 675 million people, majorly located in LDCs and sub-Saharan Africa, still lacked access in 2021.
• Target 7.1: In 2021, 71% of the global population had access to clean cooking fuels and technologies, up from 64% in 2015. In seven (all located in sub-Saharan Africa) of the 20 countries with the largest deficits, fewer than 10% of the population had access to clean fuels and technologies. The growing access deficit in sub-Saharan Africa, if not reversed, could dampen or undermine increasing trends in global access.
• Target 7.2: The share of renewable sources in total final energy consumption amounted to 19.1% globally in 2020, or 2.4 percentage points higher than in 2015. Part of this progression is due to lower final energy demand in 2020, as the pandemic disrupted social and economic activities worldwide. The electricity sector shows the largest share of renewables in total final energy consumption (28.2% in 2020) and has driven most of the growth in renewable energy use, while the heat and transport sectors have seen limited progress over the past decade.
• Target 7.3: The rate of improvement in primary energy intensity, which had already slowed in recent years, dropped to 0.6% in 2020. This makes it the worst year for energy intensity improvement since the global financial crisis. Annual improvement through 2030 must now average 3.4% to meet the target of SDG 7.3. This slowdown was influenced by a shift in the economic structure during Covid towards more energy-intensive industrial production, combined with only modest rates of technical efficiency improvements, in the context of low energy prices.
• Target 7.a: International public financial flows in support of clean energy in developing countries have a decreasing trend that started before the COVID-19 pandemic and continued through 2021. In 2021, they amounted to $10.8 billion— an 11% drop from 2020. This was 35% less than the 2010–19 decade-long average, and less than half the 2017 peak of $26.4 billion.
• Target 7.b: In 2021, there was a record-breaking installation of 268 Watts per capita of renewable capacity in developing countries, representing a year-on-year growth rate of 9.8%. However, even with this positive and accelerating growth, developing countries are not on track to meet SDG7 by 2030. Moreover, the positive global and regional trends hide the fact that the countries that are most in need of support are being left behind, even among developing countries.

Despite progress, there are still over 700 million people globally living in the dark and 2.4 billion cooking with harmful and polluting fuels. Although the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency have improved, progress is not fast enough to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7. The war in Ukraine is driving up global energy prices and increasing energy insecurity in Europe. To respond to the energy crisis, some European countries plan to speed up the transition to renewables and increase investments in renewables and energy efficiency, while some other countries plan to bring about a resurgence of coal, putting the green transition at risk.

Between 2010 and 2020, the proportion of world population with access to electricity reached 91 per cent, up from 83 per cent, with 1.3 billion people gaining access. This still leaves 733 million people in the dark with more than three quarters of them living in sub-Saharan Africa. In the period 2018-2020, the annual access growth was 0.5 percentage points, which should accelerate to an annual average of 0.9 percentage points so that universal access can be achieved by 2030. This requires significant efforts to reach those living in low-income, fragile and conflict-affected countries.

In 2020, 69 per cent of the global population had access to clean cooking fuels and technologies. While more than half of those without access to clean cooking fuels live in Asia, 19 out of the 20 countries with the lowest percentage of people having access to clean cooking were least developed countries in Africa.

The share of renewable sources in total final energy consumption amounted to 17.7 per cent globally in 2019, which is less than one percentage point higher than the figure for 2015. The electricity sector records the largest share of renewables in total final energy consumption (26.2 per cent in 2019) and drives most of the growth in renewable energy use, while the heat and transport sectors have seen limited progress.

Global primary energy intensity—defined as global total energy supply per unit of GDP, improved from 5.6 megajoules per dollar (2017 purchasing power parity) in 2010 to 4.7 megajoules in 2019. Since 2015, global energy intensity has improved by 1.6 per cent per year on average, which is still short of the 3.2 per cent annual rate now needed to reach Sustainable Development Goal 7.3.

International financial flows to developing countries in support of clean and renewable energy reached $10.9 billion in 2019, 23.6 per cent lower than that in 2018 and representing a contraction even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A longer five-year moving average trend shows that average annual commitments decreased for the first time since 2008 by 5.5 per cent from $17.5 billion in 2014-18 to $16.6 billion in 2015-19.

Installed renewable energy-generating capacity in developing countries reached a record 245.7 watts per capita in 2020. Since 2015, renewable capacity per capita has increased by 57.6 per cent, but small island developing States, least developed countries and landlocked developing countries have lagged behind. It would take least developed countries and landlocked developing countries almost 40 years and small island developing States almost 15 years to reach the same level of progress reached by the developing countries on average in 2020.

Source: Progress Towards Sustainable Development Goals- Report of the Secretary-General 

For more information, please, check: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2022/

Despite significant progress over the past decade on improving access to electricity, increasing renewable energy use in the electricity sector and improving energy efficiency, the world is still falling short in providing affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Clean and sustainable energy should be at the heart of the COVID-19 response and of efforts to combat climate change.

Global access to electricity increased from 83 per cent in 2010 to 90 per cent in 2019, with an increase in average annual electrification of 0.876 percentage points. The global access deficit decreased from 1.22 billion in 2010 to 759 million in 2019. Despite the significant effort made, there may still be as many as 660 million people without access worldwide in 2030. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic will impede progress on future electrification.

In 2019, 66 per cent of the global population had access to clean cooking fuels and technologies. For the period 2010–2019, most of the increases in such access occurred in the most populous low- and middle-income countries and territories: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan. People reliant on polluting fuels and technologies are exposed to high levels of household air pollution with serious consequences for their cardiovascular and respiratory systems, increasing their vulnerability to diseases including the COVID-19 virus.

The share of renewable energy in total final energy consumption increased gradually from 16.4 per cent in 2010 to 17.1 per cent in 2018. However, the share of modern renewable sources in total final energy consumption rose by only 2.5 percentage points in a decade, remaining below 11 per cent in 2018. The pandemic is having a mixed impact on renewable energy development across end-use sectors: global electricity demand declined by 2 per cent in 2020 compared to 2019, but the use of renewables for power generation increased by almost 7 per cent year on year.

Global primary energy intensity increased from 5.6 megajoules per dollar of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010 to 4.8 megajoules in 2018, an average annual rate of improvement of 2 per cent. While early estimates for 2019 also indicate an improvement of 2 per cent, the outlook for 2020 suggests a rate of only 0.8 per cent because of the pandemic. Annual improvement until 2030 will need to average 3 per cent if the Goal 7.3 target is to be met.

International financial flows to developing countries in support of clean and renewable energy reached $14 billion in 2018, 35 per cent lower than in 2017 but 32 per cent higher than in 2010. Hydropower projects received 27 per cent of flows in 2018, while projects relating to solar received 26 per cent, geothermal 8 per cent, wind 5 per cent and multiple or other renewable energies 34 per cent.

Developing countries had a renewable energy capacity of 219 watts per capita at the end of 2019, an increase of 7 per cent over the year but slightly less than the 8.8 per cent expansion in per capita capacity for 2018. Per capita hydropower capacity remained stable in 2019, as total capacity increased in line with population growth during the year at approximately 0.4 per cent. Solar and wind capacities both expanded much faster than population growth, leading to increases in per capita capacity of 22.2 and 11.3 per cent, respectively.

Source: Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals – E/2021/58

The world is making good progress on increasing access to electricity and improving energy efficiency. However, millions of people throughout the world still lack such access, and progress on facilitating access to clean cooking fuels and technologies is too slow. The pandemic has highlighted the need for reliable and affordable electricity in health centres. In addition, a survey conducted in selected developing countries revealed that one quarter of the health facilities surveyed were not electrified, and another quarter had unscheduled outages, affecting their capacity to deliver essential health services. Such deficiencies weaken the health system’s response to the current health crisis.

The global electrification rate rose, from 83 per cent in 2010 to 90 per cent by 2018. Latin America and the Caribbean and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia maintained strong progress, exceeding 98 per cent access to electricity by 2018. However, the world’s deficit was increasingly concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, where some 548 million persons, or 53 per cent of the population, lacked access to electricity.

Access to clean cooking fuels and technologies increased to 63 per cent in 2018, from 60 per cent in 2015 and 56 per cent in 2010. Still, 2.8 billion persons lacked such access and relied primarily on inefficient and polluting cooking systems. Because of the stagnant rate and rapid population growth, in sub-Saharan Africa, the number of people without access to clean fuels for cooking increased.

The renewable energy share of total final energy consumption gradually increased, from 16.3 per cent in 2010 to 17.0 per cent in 2015 and 17.3 per cent in 2017. Much faster growth is required to meet long-term climate goals.

Global primary energy intensity (the energy used per unit of GDP) improved by 2.2 per cent annually, from 5.2 per cent in 2015 to 5.0 per cent in 2017, but was still short of the 2.7 per cent annual rate needed to reach target 7.3.

International financial flows to developing countries in support of clean and renewable energy reached $21.4 billion in 2017, 13 per cent higher than in 2016 and a twofold increase from flows committed in 2010. Hydropower projects received 46 per cent of 2017 flows, while solar projects received 19 per cent, wind 7 per cent and geothermal 6 per cent.

Source: Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, Report of the Secretary-General, https://undocs.org/en/E/2020/57

Access to electricity in the poorest countries has begun to accelerate, energy efficiency continues to improve and renewable energy is making gains in electricity sector. Despite this progress, some 800 million people remain without electricity while access to clean cooking fuels and technologies needs dedicated attention. In addition, if Sustainable Development Goals 7, 13 and related Goals are to be met, much higher levels of ambition are required with regard to renewable energy, including transportation and heating.

• The global electrification rate rose from 83 per cent in 2010 to 87 per cent in 2015, with the increase accelerating to reach 89 per cent in 2017. However, some 840 million people around the world are still without access to electricity.
• The global share of the population with access to clean cooking fuels and technologies reached 61 per cent in 2017, up from 57 per cent in 2010. Despite this progress, close to 3 billion people still rely primarily on inefficient and polluting cooking systems.
• The renewable energy share of total final energy consumption gradually increased from 16.6 per cent in 2010 to 17.5 per cent in 2016, though much faster change is required to meet climate goals. Even though the absolute level of renewable energy consumption has grown by more than 18 per cent since 2010, only since 2012 has the growth of renewables outpaced the growth of total energy consumption. E/2019/68 14/39 19-07404
• Global primary energy intensity (ratio of energy used per unit of GDP) improved from 5.9 in 2010 to 5.1 in 2016, a rate of improvement of 2.3 per cent, which is still short of the 2.7 per cent annual rate needed to reach target 3 of Sustainable Development Goal 7.
• International financial flows to developing countries in support of clean and renewable energy reached $18.6 billion in 2016, almost doubling from $9.9 billion in 2010.

Source: Report of the Secretary-General, Special edition: progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals

Ensuring access to affordable, reliable and modern energy for all has come one step closer due to recent progress in electrification, particularly in LDCs, and improvements in industrial energy efficiency. However, national priorities and policy ambitions still need to be strengthened to put the world on track to meet the energy targets for 2030

• From 2000 to 2016, the proportion of the global population with access to electricity increased from 78 per cent to 87 per cent, with the absolute number of people living without electricity dipping to just below 1 billion.
• In the least developed countries, the proportion of the people with access to electricity more than doubled between 2000 and 2016.
• In 2016, 3 billion people (41 per cent of the world’s population) were still cooking with polluting fuel and stove combinations.
• The share of renewables in final energy consumption increased modestly, from 17.3 per cent in 2014 to 17.5 per cent in 2015. Yet only 55 per cent of the renewable share was derived from modern forms of renewable energy.
• Global energy intensity decreased by 2.8 per cent from 2014 to 2015, double the rate of improvement seen between 1990 and 2010.

Source: Report of the Secretary-General, The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018

Progress in every area of sustainable energy falls short of what is needed to achieve energy access for all and to meet targets for renewable energy and energy efficiency. Meaningful improvements will require higher levels of financing and bolder policy commitments, together with the willingness of countries to embrace new technologies on a much wider scale.

• Globally, 85.3 per cent of the population had access to electricity in 2014, an increase of only 0.3 percentage points since 2012. That means that 1.06 billion people, predominantly rural dwellers, still function without electricity. Half of those people live in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking climbed to 57.4 per cent in 2014, up slightly from 56.5 per cent in 2012. More than 3 billion people, the majority of them in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, are still cooking without clean fuels and more efficient technologies.
• The share of renewable energy in final energy consumption grew modestly from 2012 to 2014, from 17.9 per cent to 18.3 per cent. Most of the increase was from renewable electricity from water, solar and wind power. Solar and wind power still make up a relatively minor share of energy consumption, despite their rapid growth in recent years. The challenge is to increase the share of renewable energy in the heat and transport sectors, which together account for 80 per cent of global energy consumption.
• From 2012 to 2014, three quarters of the world’s 20 largest energy-consuming countries had reduced their energy intensity — the ratio of energy used per unit of GDP. The reduction was driven mainly by greater efficiencies in the industry and transport sectors. However, that progress is still not sufficient to meet the target of doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency.

Source: Report of the Secretary-General, "Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals", E/2017/66

• Energy is crucial for achieving almost all of the Sustainable Development Goals, from its role in the eradication of poverty through advancements in health, education, water supply and industrialization, to combating climate change.
• The proportion of the global population with access to electricity has increased steadily, from 79 per cent in 2000 to 85 per cent in 2012. Still, 1.1 billion people are without this valuable service. Recent global progress in this area has been driven largely by Asia, where access is expanding at more than twice the pace of demographic growth. Of those gaining access to electricity worldwide since 2010, 80 per cent are urban dwellers.
• The proportion of the world’s population with access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking increased from 51 per cent in 2000 to 58 per cent in 2014, although there has been limited progress since 2010. The absolute number of people relying on polluting fuels and technologies for cooking, such as solid fuels and kerosene, however, has actually increased, reaching an estimated three billion people. Limited progress since 2010 falls substantially short of global population growth and is almost exclusively confined to urban areas.
• The share of renewable energy (derived from hydropower, solid and liquid biofuels, wind, the sun, biogas, geothermal and marine sources, and waste) in the world’s total final energy consumption has increased slowly, from 17.4 per cent in 2000 to 18.1 per cent in 2012. More telling is the fact that modern renewable energy consumption, which excludes solid biofuels used for traditional purposes, grew rapidly, at a rate of 4 per cent a year between 2010 and 2012, and accounted for 60 per cent of all new power-generating capacity in 2014. In absolute terms, about 72 per cent of the increase in energy consumption from modern renewable sources between 2010 and 2012 came from developing regions, mostly from Eastern Asia. The technologies making the largest contribution have been hydropower, wind and solar energy; together they account for 73 per cent of the total increase in modern renewable energy between 2010 and 2012.
• Energy intensity, calculated by dividing total primary energy supply by GDP, reveals how much energy is used to produce one unit of economic output. Globally, energy intensity decreased by 1.7 per cent per year from 2010 to 2012. This represents a considerable improvement over the period from 1990 to 2010, when it decreased by 1.2 per cent a year. As a result, global energy intensity, which stood at 6.7 (millijoules (mJ) per 2011 United States dollar ppp) in 2000 fell to 5.7 by 2012. The proportion of the world’s energy use covered by mandatory energy efficiency regulation, which has almost doubled over the past decade, from 14 per cent in 2005 to 27 per cent in 2014, was a factor. Still, current progress is only about two thirds of the pace needed to double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency. Among end-use sectors, industry was the largest contributor to reduced energy intensity, followed closely by transportation. About 68 per cent of the savings in energy intensity between 2010 and 2012 came from developing regions, with Eastern Asia as the largest contributor.

Source: Report of the Secretary-General, "Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals", E/2016/75