Why in News?
- Recently, the Tracking SDG 7 – The Energy Progress Report 2022 was published which showed that the Covid-19 crisis and Russia-Ukraine war have considerably slowed down efforts towards attaining the Seventh Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 7) target.
- The Energy Progress Report is a product of collaboration among the five SDG 7 custodian agencies in the form of a specially created Steering Group,
- International Energy Agency (IEA), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO).
- SDG 7 has a goal of universal access to clean and affordable energy by 2030.
Key Findings-
- Access to electricity (7.1)- The proportion of the world’s population with access to electricity rose from 83% in 2010 to 91% in 2020, increasing the number of people with access by 1.3 billion worldwide.
- The number without access reduced from 1.2 billion people in 2010 to 733 million in 2020.
- However, in recent years, the rate of progress in electrification has slowed which may be explained by the rising complexity of reaching more remote and poorer un-served populations and the unprecedented impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
- At current rates of progress, the world will achieve only 92% electrification by 2030.
- Clean cooking (7.1)- The share of the world population with access to clean cooking fuels and technologies rose to 69% in 2020, an increase of 03% points over last year 2021.
- Though, population growth outpaced much of the benefits in access, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Consequently, the total number of people lacking access to clean cooking has remained relatively sluggish for decades. The increase was mainly driven by advancements in access to large, populous countries in Asia.
- Renewables (7.2)- While the share of renewable capacity expansion rose by a record amount in 2021, the positive regional and global trajectories mask the fact that countries where new capacity additions lagged were those most in need of increased access.
- Moreover, rising commodity, energy and shipping prices, along with restrictive trade measures, have increased the cost of production and transport of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, wind turbines, and bio-fuels, increasing uncertainty for future renewable energy projects.
- Energy efficiency (7.3)- SDG 7.3 aims to double the global rate of annual improvement in primary energy intensity- the amount of energy used per unit of wealth created- to 2.6% in 2010–30 versus 1990–2010.
- From 2010 to 2019, global annual improvements in energy intensity averaged around 1.9%, i.e below the target.
- International Financial Flows (7.A)- International public financial flows to developing countries in support of clean energy reduced for the second year in a row, falling to USD 10.9 billion in 2019, in spite of the enormous needs for sustainable development in most countries and growing urgency of climate change.
- Particularly, in the most vulnerable and least developed countries, the level of financing remains below what is required to achieve SDG 7.
- Access to Electricity- To meet the 2030 target, it is essential to increase the number of new connections to 100 million a year.
- Clean Cooking- A multi-sectoral, coordinated effort is needed to accomplish the SDG 7 target of universal access to clean cooking by 2030.
- It is critical that the global community learns from the successes and challenges experienced by countries that have attempted to design and implement clean household energy policies.
- Renewables- Ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy implies increased deployment of renewable energy sources for electricity, heat and transport.
- Renewable shares need to reach well over 30% of ‘total final energy consumption’ by 2030 from 18% in 2019, to be on track for reaching net-zero energy emissions by 2050.
- Energy Efficiency- The rate of energy efficiency needs to be higher-consistently over 04% for the rest of this decade, if the world is to achieve net-zero emissions from the energy sector by 2050.
- International Financial Flows- Energy efficiency policies and investment need to be increased significantly to bring the SDG 7.3 target within reach.