Global access to energy unlikely by 2030 without action, say leading agencies
Energy efficiency targets, which made strong progress between 2015 and 2016, have ‘slackened’
Universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern sources of energy is unlikely to be achieved by 2030 unless efforts are scaled up significantly, according to a joint report by the world’s top energy agencies.
Significant progress was made on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals before the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of access to electricity, renewable energy generation and energy efficiency.
However, global advances remain “insufficient” to reach key targets by the 2030 deadline, according to a tracking report released by the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy
Agency, the United Nations Statistics Division, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation.
The UN has 17 SDGs, with the tracking report focused on the seventh goal of achieving affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
The number of people living off-grid declined to 789 million in 2018, down from 1.2 billion in 2010. However, an estimated 620 million could still lack access to electricity by 2030.
About 85 per cent of people with no access to electricity live in sub-Saharan Africa, the report said.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the deep inequalities around the world in terms of access to modern, affordable and sustainable energy,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol.
“Electricity has been a vital underpinning of the response to the public health emergency in many countries – but hundreds of millions of people worldwide still lack basic access to it, with the majority of them located in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Even before today’s unprecedented crisis, the world was not on track to meet key sustainable energy goals.”
Achieving these now is likely to be harder still. The world must redouble efforts to bring affordable, reliable and cleaner energy to all – especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where the need is greatest, he said.
An acceleration of renewable energy capacity is needed to reach SDGs within the targeted timeline, the report said.
Energy efficiency targets, which made strong progress between 2015 and 2016, have also “slackened”. The rate of improvement needs to be sped up to 3 per cent from 1.7 per cent at present to reach 2030 targets.
Financial flows to developing countries to fund access to clean energy doubled since 2010, reaching $21.4 billion (Dh78.54bn) in 2017.
However, only 12 per cent of the available money reached the least-developed economies, which are furthest from realising their SDG goals, the tracking report said
Irena, based in Abu Dhabi, last month said that decarbonisation of the entire global energy system away from fossil fuels could require up to $98 trillion in investment between now and 2050.
Citing “exceptional measures” undertaken by countries to bring the health emergency and human toll under control during the pandemic, the organisations also urged states to adopt policies to ensure longterm sustainability.
“Under such circumstances, countries have an opportunity to consider options for economic stimulus that not only respond to the immediate crisis, but also ensure longer-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability,” the report said.