Stronger Efforts are Needed to Achieve SDG 7 Sustainable Energy Goals
With a special introduction by the author, Dr. Robert Ichord
A broad-based international effort has been underway to advance sustainable energy development since UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon designated 2012 as the International Year for Sustainable Energy. In its start-up phase, the work was ably led by the charismatic Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, the Secretary General’s Special Representative for Energy. I helped to develop this initiative while I was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Transformation at the US State Department, working with the US Department of Energy, US Treasury, USAID, and other USG organizations and participated on the SE4All Steering Group. Through extensive international collaboration, a plan was developed and announced in November 2013 by the UN Secretary General and the World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim for a Sustainable Energy for All platform to mobilize support for three main 2030 goals:
- Ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services
- Increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix
- Double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency.
This effort formed the basis for the development of SDG7 on Sustainable Energy in 2015 and led to the creation of a SE4All international organization based in Vienna, Austria, hosted by the Austrian Government. https://www.seforall.org/who-we-are/team. Dr. Yumkella was the founding head of SE4All. He was succeeded by Rachael Kyte, VP for Sustainable Development at the World Bank. The current CEO is Damilola Ogunbiyi, who also serves as Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy. During its existence, SE4ALL has been a catalyst for the creation of over 35 public-private compacts with many organizations addressing the three goals. It enjoys support from governments, companies like ENEL, and foundations such as Rockefeller. At the UN High-Level Dialogue on Energy in September last year, Secretary Guterres released a global roadmap for SDG7 that raised ambitions with its key milestones:
- 600 billion of USD investment in SDG7 from governments and the private sector.
- 800 million more people with enhanced energy access from government commitments
- 719 GWh of energy savings achieved from private sector commitments
- 13,252 GWh of energy savings achieved from private sector commitments.
SE4ALL played prominent role at COP26, where it hosted US Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry, who as Secretary of State, had been on the SE for All Advisory Board, and featured a partnership between the Global Alliance for People and Planet and USAID, attended by USAID Administrator Samantha Power.
Meeting these targets will require greater efforts by the international community as I discuss in the accompanying blog.