Report – Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report 2020

The 2020 edition of Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report monitors and assesses attainments in the global quest for universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy by 2030. The latest available data and select energy scenarios are set forth in this year’s report, which finds that although the world continues to advance toward SDG 7, its efforts fall well short of the scale required to reach the goal by 2030.

The data and analyses presented in this report were prepared before the covid-19 pandemic and must be viewed in the light of this unprecedented crisis. Like most grave crises, the covid-19 pandemic shows how an unforeseen global calamity can disrupt trends and policies of long standing, with outcomes both expected and unpredictable, dire and surprising. With its widespread impact on societies and economies at all levels, including plummeting oil prices, disrupted supply chains, and the limited ability of many households and businesses to pay for electricity services, the pandemic is certain to affect the energy transition and progress toward SDG 7. At the same time, the crisis is pointing to the urgent need for access to reliable, affordable, sustainable, and modern energy—for hospitals and health facilities to treat patients, for schools to prepare children for the digital economy, for communities to pump clean water, and for people to gain access to information. The full impact of the covid-19 pandemic on energy access, energy efficiency, renewable energy deployment, and the full energy transition remains to be seen.