Global energy access gap worsens as population growth outpaces new connections: 685 million people living without electricity access in 2022, 2.1 billion people continue to rely on damaging cooking fuels globally.
A new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank, and the World Health Organization (WHO), released finds that the world remains off course to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 for energy by 2030.
SDG 7 is to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy. The goal includes reaching universal access to electricity and clean cooking, doubling historic levels of efficiency improvements, and substantially increasing the share of renewables in the global energy mix. Attaining this goal will have a deep impact on people’s health and well-being, helping to protect them from environmental and social risks such as air pollution, and expanding access to primary health care and services.
The 2024 edition of Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report warns that current efforts are not enough to achieve SDG 7 on time. There has been some progress on specific elements of the SDG 7 agenda – for example, the increased rate of renewables deployment in the power sector – but progress is insufficient to reach the targets set forth in the SDGs.
The latest report confirms that the number of people without access to electricity increased for the first time in over a decade, as the population grew—mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa—at a higher rate than that of new electricity connections, leaving 685 million people without electricity in 2022, 10 million more than in 2021. A combination of factors contributed to this including the global energy crisis, inflation, growing debt distress in many low-income countries, and increased geopolitical tensions. However, promising trends in the rollout of decentralized energy solutions, largely based on renewable energy, are helping accelerate progress, particularly in rural areas where eight in ten people without access live today.
Meanwhile, 2.1 billion people still live without access to clean cooking fuels and technologies, with the number remaining largely flat last year. This carries with it huge implications for health, gender equality, and the environment, contributing to 3.2 million premature deaths each year. Renewed political momentum within the context of G7, G20, and new financial commitments made at the Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa are buoying prospects for stronger progress later this decade. Still, efforts remain insufficient to reach universal access to electricity or clean cooking by 2030.
Other parts of the SDG 7 agenda have fared better recently. Renewable energy has seen robust growth over the past two years, and energy efficiency improvements are gradually improving after a drop-off during the pandemic, albeit still not enough to meet the SDG 7 target.
New global targets pledged by over 130 countries in the UAE Consensus reinforce the objectives of SDG 7 by aiming to triple renewable generating capacity and double the rate of energy efficiency. Immediate concrete actions are required to fulfill these targets, especially in addressing the large disparity in clean energy investment, of which 80% remains concentrated in just 25 countries in 2022.
